By the end of this year, about 1,000 airplanes flying routes within the United States will have Wi-Fi service, according to Aircell, the company that has done nearly all of the Wi-Fi installations so far. By the end of next year, 2,000 planes will have the service, Aircell says. That is roughly two-thirds of the mainline domestic United States fleet, which excludes regional jets. International service is slower in coming.
So Wi-Fi is clearly going to become a new standard, even though there is no compelling evidence that more than a fraction of passengers will pay for the connection.
With prices running as much as $12.95 a flight, it is unclear if customers will be receptive to another extra charge.
So how do airlines make this work long-term as a business proposition?
In the initial stage, the goal is just to encourage more business travelers to use Wi-Fi. Delta Air Lines, which says it will have more than 300 aircraft converted to Aircell’s Gogo Wi-Fi service by September, plans to offer discounts.
“This summer we’re going to launch a pricing concept where you can buy a monthly membership, with a pricing scheme designed for frequent travelers, said Ranjan Goswami, Delta’s director of customer experience.
Mr. Goswami wouldn’t say how much a monthly pass would cost. Delta now charges $12.95 for Wi-Fi on flights of more than three hours; $9.95 for flights under three hours and $7.95 for hand-held devices on flights of any length.
In-flight Wi-Fi now offers Internet and e-mail. But airlines are looking at a possible new market: using that connection for enhanced in-flight entertainment.
It costs about $100,000 a plane to install the Aircell system, which adds only about 136 kilograms of weight. Considering the far higher cost and weight for seatback digital video systems, struggling airlines face a tantalizing question.
As more people tote laptops and smartphones on board, can airlines avoid the cost of installing expensive seatback video?
Aircell’s Wi-Fi system uses a largecapacity server, “so don’t be surprised in the future to see more and more content being added, said Jack W. Blumenstein, the chief executive. That means movies and other entertainment can be packaged on the ground and sent to the plane for viewing on passengers’ personal electronic devices, he said. Aircell is working on plans to expand to Canada.
Another company, Row 44, offers a satellite-based service, which is being tested by Southwest Airlines. Norwegian Air Shuttle in April announced plans to equip its entire fleet with the system.
Airlines wanting to compete in inflight entertainment will probably have to consider a combination of digital seatback screens and Wi-Fi, said David Cush, chief executive of Virgin America, which recently installed Wi- Fi systems in 26 of its A320s and A319s.
Most airlines that have Wi-Fi won’t say how many passengers are buying it. Mr. Cush of Virgin America said that 20 to 25 percent of its passengers use it on the San Francisco-Boston route, heavily used by business travelers. Over all, the average is 12 to 15 percent, he said.
“The next step will be to integrate Wi-Fi into our seatback system, he said.
“In the future, the devices most people bring onto the airplane are not going to be full-sized screens, they’re going to be BlackBerrys and iPhones,” Mr. Cush said. The company is planning to integrate Wi-Fi into its 23-centimeter seatback screen. “Sports is one of the most popular features on satellite TV,” he said. “Did you ever try watching a basketball game on a screen the size of a matchbook?”
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