Wi-Fi Coming Soon to Southwest Airlines

[Jeff Campbell]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/02/southwest-joins.html' target='_blank'>http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/...west-joins.html</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Internet connectivity is set to join pretzels and orange juice as one of the options on airlines as flight attendants roll their cart down the aisle."</em></p><p><em><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1234423920.usr105634.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></em></p><p>The pretzels and OJ will be free, but I doubt the Wi-Fi will be for very long. I'd bet it will be free during the testing phase, but the airlines will eventually charge for it. &nbsp;<a href="http://www.jetblue.com/" target="_blank">Jet Blue</a>, <a href="http://www.virginamerica.com/va/home.do" target="_blank">Virgin Airlines</a> and<a href="http://www.southwest.com/" target="_blank"> Southwest</a> are the only airlines planning on testing Wi-Fi on their airplanes, which will start near the end of the year. I don't fly that much any more, and when I do most of my flights are short ones, 2 or 3 hours at the most. Even on the short flights though, &nbsp;it would be nice to have this option. We'll see how they set up the pricing structure, if it is anything like they have done with the inflight phone calls, you can bet I'll be passing on the Wi-Fi! Besides, I can always just watch a movie. &nbsp;</p>

[gojeffrey]

Delta also announced last August that they would begin offering wifi on certain flights sometime in 2009. I fly quite a bit on Delta and haven't seen anything yet.

[doogald]

I do not fly much, but I am thinking that it's pretty good for me *not* to have internet access in flight. It's a great time to catch up on reading; that's pretty much what I do.

[Vincent Ferrari]

I do not fly much, but I am thinking that it's pretty good for me *not* to have internet access in flight. It's a great time to catch up on reading; that's pretty much what I do.

Same here. As much as I would love to be able to pop up Google Reader on a flight, the reality of the situation is that if WiFi was on every flight, I'd be expected to work on every flight, and that blessed downtime when I'm forced to just STOP absorbing stuff would have to end.

I read books on my Kindle, and maybe watch a few TV shows or movies on my iPhone but that's the extent of my "activity" on a plane. I think, as much as I may want it to be otherwise, I'm happier that way.