Service is scheduled for 150 domestic MD-80s this year to be followed by the rollout of the Wi-Fi service on Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
After testing Gogo's Inflight Internet service on 15 of its passenger jets, American Airlines has decided to install the Wi-Fi service on a third of its 900 aircraft over the next two years.
American Airlines said it will start the deployment process by installing the Gogo service on 150 domestic MD-80s this year, to be followed by the rollout of the Wi-Fi service on Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
The Gogo service, provided by Aircell, utilizes a network of ground towers beaming signals to three small antennas located on each airplane. The ground-to-air system also is being deployed on other U.S. airline fleets including Delta Air Lines, which already has deployed the service on several planes. Aircell built its system by purchasing spectrum afterVerizon (NYSE: VZ) Communications gave up its seatback Airfone system.
Garton said the tests, carried out on 15 Boeing 767-200 planes, were successfully tested on flights between New York's Kennedy Airport and San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Miami. In essence, the service turns passenger jets into flying Wi-Fi hotspots after the jets reach 10,000 feet, letting passengers use their laptops and smartphone handsets to surf the Web. Users, however, won't be able to make VoIP calls.
American is pricing the service at $12.95 for flights longer than three hours and $9.95 for flights shorter than three hours. Customers using smartphone handsets will pay $7.95 to use the service for short and long flights.
A competing service is offered by Row 44's satellite technology, which utilizes satellite technology. Southwest Airlines said recently that it plans to test the Row 44 service. The Row 44 service is also used by Alaska Airlines. Boeing's earlier satellite-based service was canceled after the aircraft builder installed it on several international flights.
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