On land, WiFi is as much a part of life as drinking coffee and breathing. In the air, not so much. But it’s catching on.
Last year, many airlines started rolling out Web access above the clouds, charging passengers about $6 to $13 depending on flight length. Only two carriers — AirTran and Virgin America — have so far added it to their entire fleets; the others offer it only on select aircraft. Virgin America also has outlets at every seat. Point goes to VA.
On another flight path, Virgin America came out with figures concerning use of its service, which was unveiled fleet-wide in May. The carrier found that, on average, 12 to 15 percent of its travelers were purchasing the amenity on all its routes and that 20 to 25 percent were using it on some transcontinental trips.
“The rates are growing more than we projected,” said Abby Lunardini, a Virgin America spokeswoman. “This is considered pretty high.”
To be honest, CoGo did not find 20 percent to be such an impressive figure, especially when we flipped it over: 80 percent of travelers are not using the service. At first glance, air travel expert Terry Trippler also deemed the percentage to be low but then admitted by e-mail that “on second thought, it is probably good.” He expects the number to approach 50 percent as more people become comfortable with in-flight WiFi. However, he warns that the closeness of the seats could scare off some customers. The lack of space makes it difficult to set up a computer station on your tray table and turns personal online viewing into a public affair.
Source: Washington Post