Globe says Air Canada quietly introduces WiFi
Wednesday April 24 2013 - In the News
Also WestJet Airlines Ltd (C:WJA) In the News
The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that many Canadian business travellers do not know that WiFi may be available on a limited basis. In a Globe special, David Israelson quotes Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick as saying: "We put WiFi on two aircraft as a test to measure customer reaction a few years ago and those two aircraft are the only ones we have that are WiFi-equipped. Neither WestJet nor Porter offer it as yet. Meanwhile, U.S. airlines are rolling out cross-country WiFi this year. They have been gradually expanding their services since American Airlines began offering it five years ago. In the United States, in-sky Internet seems to be catching on. With prices to go online in the air ranging from $12 (U.S.) to $20 (U.S.), it is still only being used by a minority of travellers. "What we're seeing is that usage rate is around 15 per cent," says Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst with Hudson Crossing LLC in San Francisco. Some travellers say they're confused by the flight attendants' command to "turn off hand-held devices" at takeoff, only to hear that it's okay to turn them on again, for a fee. In-flight WiFi is available to passengers only above 10,000 feet.
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