Pulling Airphones?
 

I just got off a flight from IAH on a 733 that had the Verizon Airphones removed and the holes covered with plastic and two screws. Any idea what might be happening?

I hope not. While I do not use it much, I do set it up with my Verizon Cell phone so I can receive and make calls at 69 cents per minute. You can be reached if someone calls your cellphone.

CO just pulled a 733 or two out of the desert and returned them to service.

I know that most electronic equipment is removed and placed in climate-controlled storage when an airplane is sent out to the desert, perhaps the same was done to the Airfones (as they are property of Verizon) and simply weren't reinstalled yet.

Or it could have been the other way around, maybe this 733 was on its way out and had the Airfones removed early.

Either way I don't think they are planning on taking the Airfones out at any time, especially considering that, according to a source, JetConnect has been a mild success.

I've always wondered how the heck the airphones pay for themselves (equipment, additional weight on the plane, etc.)

IIRC, I've used them twice in the last 14 years of biz travel.

Sunk cost. GTE installed them years ago, and I'm sure they lost money. But now that they're on the planes and more reasonably priced, it's not outlandish to believe it would be more cost effective to leave them in rather than yank them out.

I've paid $1,000 in airphone bills over the past 2 years. They're paid for by people like me! :)

I was thinking if I had heard that CO is retiring their 733's, but don't seem to see that anywhere. Either way, it was either coming or going to storage.

I have a VZW acct, I added the 10/Month option fo that all my AirFone calls are only .10 cents a minute which is not that bd if you think about it 10 minutes = 1 dollar, 100 minutes =10 dollars plus the 10 dollar monthly free - 100 minutes for 20 bucks, which is kind of like cell phone rates several years ago...



-Vincent