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American Airlines To Offer Wi-Fi In Planes
Firmafest writes "In USA Today there's a scoop that American Airlines will offer Wi-Fi on domestic flights. Price is approx. $10 to get connected. Being a frequent international flyer I hope this will catch on. The LA Times reports that the cost is about $100,000 to equip a plane. While that number seems high, it will probably be worth it. If I had a choice between two flights both equally good, I'd pick the Wi-Fi enabled one." The article also says that JetBlue and Southwest Airlines are at least experimenting with Wi-Fi access aboard, while Delta already offers it.
Backelin said the Internet access will be filtered to block pornographic sites -- the airline at first said it wouldn't do that, but relented after hearing complaints from customers and flight attendants. And American won't allow voice-over-Internet phone service, to keep chattering to a minimum.
If it pays for itself within a few months, then good. Profitable airlines == more competition, and less nickel and diming for snacks and hydration.
That you can't be without it for a few hours?
Never been on a plane, huh? Let me enlighten you:
People on a plane will do anything to distract themselves from the cramped space, uncomfortable seats, stale air, stale body odor, and bad food. Including paying out the nose for booze, headphones to listen to a movie, or internet access.
Read a magazine? Oh, that's right, printed words cause a severe allergic reaction in most people nowadays. I forgot, sorry.
I don't recall the FAA ever saying that electronic devices WILL cause a crash, only that the planes have not been certified with the devices. So, if you have not done the certification testing (expensive), the prudent thing to do is say don't use the devices. Since, as you pointed out, they can make money on it now, it makes sense to spend the money on the certifications and allow some devices.
Also, while the FAA is concerned about cell phones for the same reason as above, the FCC is more concerned. Having thousands of cell phones hop from tower to tower at 500 MPH is not something the system was designed to do.
Not everything is some conspiracy to infringe on your rights.
I've just stopped going to America.
Good solution, because we're the only country to spy on their own citizens or internet users.
Posts not to be taken literally. Almost everything is sarcasm.
They do not need any capture device plugged in. All communication to and from the plane are done through the air, which is free for most intelligence agencies to monitor.
That was a VOR they used. Mythbuster's test was completely invalid. All pilots/engineers who watched that test were banging their head on their remotes with frustration. Also, at the end of the show even the Mythbusters mention their errors were brought to their attention and point out their test may not have been accurate because their VOR WAS BROKEN IN THE FIRST PLACE.
The simple fact is, hundreds, if not thousands of planes fly every day with cell phones turned on. The truth of the matter is, cell phones in flight place a higher demand on a carrier's network. This has always been a political issue and has never been a safety issue.
Lastly, AFAIK, there has never been been a substantiated claim a cell phone interfered with the safe operation of a plane in flight. Furthermore, all of the reports which received significant news coverage were later determined to have absolutely nothing to do with passenger electronic devices.
I was estimating around 3-4 flights per plane, per day (domestic), which, with your figures, would make it between 50-66 days to start being profitable given ideal circumstances.
Even assuming less than ideal circumstances it's still a very short time to get a 100% ROI.
Lose a few pounds.
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