TheSafariMan

Why re-invent the wheel?? Blasting obscenities at them on Twitter already gets no results, so we can happily continue to do that from the air!

Jimmie76

No she wouldn't drink and drive. If I told the crew not to serve her something e.g. Desert or cheese I would not be popular.

TPJ

Writing this post from TK B777 flying IST-EZE. TK 777's (all) and A330's (most) have wi-fi that is complimentary for those in C.

Edit: just checked - it is usd 15 for those in Y. I believe AA charges usd 20 regardless of the cabin.

Sorry for a DYKWIA sort of post

dylanks

Finally! I have to say it was really nice having wifi on my recent AA flights (DFW-HKG and PEK-ORD). While slow at times, it really helped on such long flights.

I use it all the time on domestic flights in the US. I've never seen anyone doing anything stupid with it, perhaps because it's too slow for services like Skype. Either way, I find it useful, and most reasonable people understand that it's not like having a broadband connection at home or in the office, so you may be able to communicate for something urgent, or you may not.

CMK10

I am really happy to hear this. Nothing makes a flight fly by (ha!) better than onboard Wifi. It's been one of the best things to happen to travel in the last decade.

jcm9000

I fly aa a fair bit and was there when they started wifi on the md80s of all things, i really Have not found wifi to be a problem. I still tell clients and colleagues i am flying, done. I suppose social norms may soon change that, so be it, i'll just be busy working on other matters that day (such as concentrating on doing nothing) or pull the best excuse: confidentiality, you never know who is looking over your shoulder, and yup, i can see your laptop screen from the aisle seat behind you where you cant see me being nosey. People have always worked on planes, i have not noticed an increase in people working on laptops on aa - they already were, presentations, reports, documents....they do not need wifi. For those of you in Y, well, with the slimming down of seats there just isnt space to effectively do anything, so another excuse there (sorry, i'm in Y - when really you are kicking back in F). If you are a workaholic, well, you should enjoy it, otherwise get those excuses going! I'd quite like to be able to stream amazon prime etc, no difference to watching pre-downloaded content, and who knows, better wifi may even keep some of us sober in the air if we are forced to work. I can't fear progress, and wifi onboard to me is just that, even if i am too cheap to use it on aa just now!

flatlander

People using VOIP services has not been noticeable on any Internet-equipped aircraft I have been on. I also have to note that most aircraft are noisy enough that you won't hear someone talking more than a few seats away, and you already have the possibility that your neighbours will talk to each other for the entire flight.

You also don't have to use it if you don't want to. Demanding that IAG keep their aircraft free of Internet to satisfy your desires is a little selfish, isn't it?

The pace of IAG's rollout of Internet service is disappointing. They are entirely focused on cost, not on delivering a service - or they would be taking aircraft to have it fitted sooner than C-check. The result is that anyone wanting to use it cannot have even a good chance of having it for some years - it'll be a surprise, and get less use because of that.

corporate-wage-slave

I have to say this topic has come up on every single BA lunch / event for their top tier customers that I've attended in recent years. The previous CEO used to preface his remarks, eyes twinkling, with "Now I know this is a bit of a mixed blessing for some of you.....". We now have a new CEO who is about 20 years younger.

orbitmic

... and a lot greedier. Frankly, I think the question of web access has never been about trying to be nice but about whether the company believed tat the ancillary revenue pays for the equipment. The technology is now much cheaper to install as well as much cheaper to use over oceans (so that more people are likely to pay to use the service).

Side note about the announcement itself: funny to read about "IAG planes" getting wifi as all IB's A330s and most A340s are already equipped! So this is really about BA and not so much IAG.

onlysuites

Great news and about time.

gengar

Agreed - posters here should remember that BA is very late to the game on this. Other airlines have had longhaul wifi for quite some time.


I think I paid $24 last time on AA LAX-LHR. In F.

rossmacd

Users with iPass get access for free on AA, I would hope the same occurs when BA launch their proposition.

TPJ

Yep - TK is the only airline I know that offers free wi-fi in C. AA and EY both charge even in F. But AA at least gives you free access to aa.com so you could check the connecting gate or see if you are already rebooked, if the flight is late.

akinldn

I doubt the wifi will get fast enough to do skype or other voip... You can barely do that on the ground anyway... There's always the option for the airlines to block voip protocols... And it's no difference from the disturbance of two passengers having a loud conversations, babies etc...

I quite like being able to check emails (very slowly), plan my itinerary on the flight, do some last minute research on the net.

And as to getting away from work? You can always blame equipment failure... But I say it is quite sad that if your clients and employer cannot understand if you are on a flight and fail to answer some silly non-urgent questions immediately! Especially if they are so cheap they fly you in Y!

orbitmic

IB hands in vouchers for a small amount of free wifi (equivalent to 5-10 minutes of email browsing) to J pax, which I find a perfect compromise!