Airline introduces Wi-Fi on flights
26th June 2008
American Airlines (AA) is to introduce Wi-Fi technology on 15 of its aircraft, giving broadband access to passengers.
The US carrier has confirmed that all of its Boeing 767-200 aircraft will be equipped with the internet access solution.
The first Aircell broadband connectivity system has been successfully installed in an aircraft and Aircell executive Dave Bijur says a plane full of passengers would be able to get online at the same time.
Passengers with Wi-Fi-enabled laptops, portable gaming devices or digital assistants will be able to check their email accounts, access company intranets and browse the world-wide web on transcontinental routes to and from the US.
Under plans for the implementation of the service, most web pages viewed would incur a charge, apart from hits on AA’s own website, which are to be free-of-charge.
The carrier is one of only a handful of airlines to have trialled broadband in the skies so far.