Airline Wi-Fi takes flight

Wi-Fi is starting to take off at 10,000 feet in the air, as well as earn the adulation of travelers. According to a survey of business travelers conducted by the Wi-Fi Alliance and Wakefield Research, 76% would choose an airline based on the availability of in-flight Wi-Fi, and 55% would voluntarily shift their flight by one day to have the service.

A number of factors are driving travelers' desire for in-flight Wi-Fi. According to the poll, 40% of business travelers view work trips as stressful, and 64% are “on the clock” even in flight. Considering these two factors, 82% said in-flight Wi-Fi would help them stay on top of projects, thus avoiding taking red eye flights, which 50% regularly did to avoid missing normal business hours.

Of the Wi-Fi Alliance's respondents who had not yet used in-flight Wi-Fi, 95% thought it would make them more productive, 87% anticipated using it to check e-mail, and 63% said it would be useful to log on to work-related systems, such as sales and reporting tools. Outside of working, travelers are using or would use the service for checking personal e-mail, Web browsing, streaming music or videos, shopping online, playing video games and accessing social networking applications, the survey found.

Airlines are slowly recognizing the demand for connected fights. To date more than 500 planes have in-flight Wi-Fi. Most recently, American Airlines extended its Wi-Fi service to more than 100 of its MD-80 aircrafts and plans to bring the total to 150 by the end of the year. The airline began installing Aircell's Gogo Wi-Fi service in August of last year and has plans to outfit nearly half of its fleet over the next two years. Aircell is also in use by AirTran Airways and Virgin America, as well as Delta, which has hotspots on more than 225 jets. Southwest Airlines, too, announced plans to roll out Wi-Fi provided by Row 44, also in trials with Alaska Airlines, to its entire fleet beginning in the first quarter of 2010.

IN-FLIGHT WI-FI USE

When using in-flight Wi-Fi, approximately how would you divide your time between work and personal things when you go online?