In flight WiFi April 6th, 2008
Road warriors will rejoice with this FAA decision, as reported by Ars Technica, to allow in-flight wifi in American Airlines flights. Imagine being able to play online games with your peers on the ground – hehe, well, that is counter-productive. Ok, imagine being able to chat with your boss, colleagues, friends, girl/boyfriends, family (not necessarily in that order) or having access to cloud computing – the possibilities are endless.
The new permits cover device manufacturing and functionality, so Aircell is now cleared to both produce and deploy its technology on any aircraft that's cleared to use it. Currently, Aircell is focusing on AA's Boeing 767-200 transcontinental fleet, and has additional plans to work with Virgin America. Aircell has stressed, however, that its technology is not airline-specific, and can theoretically be deployed by any US airline.
The questions now are – how much will the service cost and will airlines provide power for our devices without paying premium for First and Business class?