No more eternal flights, boredom or never-ending conversations. American Airlines now offers satellite Wi-Fi to its passengers to ensure you’re always connected.
American Airlines is the first company in the sector to make a quantum leap towards the possibility of staying “connected” while flying. In other words, gone are the days of eternal flights, no inflight entertainment systems and no more high costs to have a good online connection.
How are they going to do this? Via satellite connection. More than 700 of the company’s planes will offer satellite-based internet access of flights this summer. Travellers and passengers will be able to check their social networks, stay in touch with family and friends, watch TV series and movies, and even work from above the clouds.
The connections will come from the companies Gogo 2Ku and ViaSat Ka, which will provide American Airlines with faster and more consistent Wi-Fi that is then made available to the passengers.
The airline also plans to install power outlets in each seat on all its planes so passengers can touch down in their destination with fully charged electronic devices.
It is also looking into the idea of improving the screens on the seats and will possibly turn them into more manageable and modern tablets.
It is still unknown whether passengers will have to pay for the connection or if it will be offered as a free service as the Renfe rail company provides in Spain.
Perhaps the most important thing about this new development is that when a company ventures to try new things, it paves the way for others to follow in its footsteps. So we hope that in the not too distant future we see more airlines starting to include in-flight Wi-Fi.
