AirTran Airways will become the first major airline to add high-speed Internet service to all of its planes, in a move that could pressure other airlines to speed up plans to offer the service.
The Florida-based airline said Tuesday that it will offer Wi-Fi service on its 136 jets by midsummer. It's the most aggressive move to date by a large airline to allow passengers to browse the Web using their laptops, smart phones or PDAs.
AirTran will charge $9.95 for flights under three hours and $12.95 for longer flights. It will cost $7.95 for a customer to access the Internet with a smart phone.
The industry as a whole has been slow to roll out Internet service, offering it on a few hundred planes at a time.
Airlines have been reluctant to install Internet access because of the lack of infrastructure and technology and the cost and weight of the hardware and software that must be installed on the plane. The weight of the hardware can cause "drag" on a plane, which makes it burn more fuel, analysts said.
Airlines executives also weren't convinced that people would pay for the service.
But as the technology has improved and airlines are looking for new revenue streams, there is more interest in in-flight Internet service.
AirTran has already installed the Internet service on several planes. Bob Fornaro, AirTran chairman, president and CEO, said the company didn't want to announce the service until it was close to rolling it out on every plane. They wanted a rollout that would be a "game changer" in the industry, he said.
AirTran launched the service with a flight for reporters from BWI Marshall Airport to Maine.
Having Internet availability on all flights, rather than just some, could give AirTran an edge.
"There can be a problem when not every airplane has it," said Robert Mann, president of airline consulting firm R.W. Mann & Co. Inc. "There is a certain amount of disappointment that is set up when somebody is ready to use their Wi-Fi and then realizes they can't."
American Airlines was one of the early adopters of Wi-Fi, testing it on 15 transcontinental aircraft for a year in 2008. A spokesman said it was very well received and that the airline now plans to install it on at least 300 domestic flights.
Virgin America offers Wi-Fi on some flights, and all 28 of its flights will have service by Memorial Day.
Delta Airlines said this week that it has installed Wi-Fi on nearly half of its 300 domestic planes. The entire fleet should have the service by September. United Airlines said it plans to add it to flights between California and New York in the second half of the year, and Southwest Airlines is testing Internet service on some of its planes.
Fornaro wouldn't say how much it cost to install the Internet service or how much revenue he expected it to bring in. The service is powered by Aircell, an air-to-ground system that uses three antennas installed on the outside of the aircraft which run over Aircell's broadband network.
American, Delta, United and Virgin America also use service powered by Aircell, and the prices are the same as on AirTran.
Jack W. Blumenstein, president and CEO of Aircell, said he expects to see rapid growth in in-flight Internet service in the next two years, with the country's 3,200 domestic flights offering it by the end of 2011.
