Tag Archives for free wifi.
In 2012 I wrote that wifi would eventually be free, once there was enough bandwidth on board so that one customer’s use didn’t trade off with another’s. That’s largely happened. JetBlue and Delta offer free wifi. United is moving to Starlink (enough bandwidth) which will be free. And it looks like American is being pushed there – dragged kicking and screaming, perhaps, but they have to get there.
United Airlines is adding free Starlink wifi to its planes over the coming years. They’ve updated the install timeline. Based on experience with Hawaiian Airlines and JSX, it should be faster – and with far less latency – than competitors’ wifi.
Poor quality wifi is something that I avoid when choosing an airline. It costs airlines ticket revenue. While the cost of wifi is part of the cost of travel – airlines that bundle it in with ticket price become more competitive, while charging separately makes little sense when it’s possible to offer it at near-zero marginal cost once installed on the aircraft.
With their bankruptcy filing, they’ve laid out the changes they believe are necessary to turn around the airline’s performance. And it’s taking further the notion that they need a different product to appeal to today’s consumers, especially in an environment of higher costs. They plan free wifi; free water and snacks for all; and improved customer service. They’re also planning improved upgrades for elite frequent flyers.
It will take time for United’s fleet to see the new fast, free inflight internet. 1,000 aircraft is a lot to deploy, even taking just a single overnight per airframe to install (and not wanting to limit schedules in the meantime taking planes out of service). But it’s a future we can now look forward to.
JSX planes have StarLink internet which I’ve found to be crazy fast, with low latency. That’s not just great for checking email and web browsing. It also works for video conferencing. And they’re the first carrier certified by FAA to allow it.
So when you fly JSX you can use Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, or your other app of choice – to participate in a meeting at work, call home at dinner time or bed time, and to… annoy your fellow passengers?
Delta has been talking up free wifi for years, but they didn’t have enough bandwidth on their planes. When you make wifi free, more people use it, and that slows down the service. Ditching Gogo for ViaSat solves for this.
Gradually they’ve been rolling out free wifi, and starting February 1 it’ll be for everyone on domestic flights.
In March 2019 Delta CEO Ed Bastian said the airline would offer free wifi within “a year or two.” They needed to ensure they had enough bandwidth for everyone to use it, since not charging would mean far greater usage.
Delta’s plan has taken further shape. Domestic ViaSat-equipped aircraft (the ones that have enough bandwidth to support this) will get free internet early next year.
In March 2019 Delta CEO Ed Bastian said the airline would offer free wifi within “a year or two.” They needed to ensure they had enough bandwidth for everyone to use it, since not charging would mean far greater usage.
Delta tested just how much people used wifi when it’s free and found that their Gogo inflight internet couldn’t handle it without degrading service. The airline has since moved to retrofit planes with ViaSat internet which works faster. And now, according to an internal memo, they’re ready to go.
In addition to better meals (and more improvements starting today even that I covered last week), a new business class suite coming and new premium economy seats, and elite status that’s easier to earn, American Airlines is testing free high speed wifi for passengers over the next six weeks.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
