American Airlines to test in-flight Wi-Fi

August 01, 2007 (Computerworld) --

American Airlines Inc. will test in-flight Wi-Fi services across the U.S. starting next year, according to the airline and its Wi-Fi provider AirCell LLC.

Other airlines are reported by Engadget and others to have expressed interest or have planned tests for 2008 with similar in-flight technology, including Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Southwest Airlines Co. and Qantas Airways Ltd.
Business and leisure passengers on American flights would be able to e-mail and surf the Web from laptops and handheld devices while in flight aboard 767-200 aircraft primarily on transcontinental routes, according to a statement from Itasca, Ill.-based AirCell.

"We understand that broadband connectivity is important to our business customers and others who want to use their PDAs and laptops for real-time, in-flight broadband communications," said Dan Garton, executive vice president of marketing at American Airlines, in a statement.

The cost of the service was not announced, and American did not say whether passengers will be allowed to use Skype-type voice services from their devices to make voice calls. Some airlines have been concerned about voice calls in-flight disturbing other passengers nearby.

Lufthansa is also interested in adding in-flight Internet service.

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