In-Flight WiFi Internet Service Aboard Delta Air Lines Aircraft
Jan 19, 2009, 7:23 pm
#16
Join Date: Nov 2007
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Am I the only one who sees the futility of WiFi service without electrical outlets? Sure, one could fiddle around on a handheld device for quite a while on battery power, but for serious work on a laptop, we need electricity. My laptop only lasts 20 mins on batteries (I realize this is low, but not many go more than an hour)
Jan 19, 2009, 7:26 pm
#17
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 129
Although I agree power is necessary, many many many go more than an hour. Mine goes more than an hour and I consider that very low.
Edit: Also, does anyone know if this is MAC specific or how they are authenticating etc? I'd like to use my laptop for it's battery life, and then perhaps switch to my PDA?
Edit: Also, does anyone know if this is MAC specific or how they are authenticating etc? I'd like to use my laptop for it's battery life, and then perhaps switch to my PDA?
Jan 19, 2009, 7:44 pm
#18
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: LAX
Programs: UA Silver, AA, WN, DL
Posts: 4,091
Am I the only one who sees the futility of WiFi service without electrical outlets? Sure, one could fiddle around on a handheld device for quite a while on battery power, but for serious work on a laptop, we need electricity. My laptop only lasts 20 mins on batteries (I realize this is low, but not many go more than an hour)
Bottome line, I see this as a great revenue generator and something to keep me busy.
Jan 19, 2009, 7:52 pm
#19
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: LAX
Posts: 559
I agree that the planes need to be equipped with outlets, especially if Delta wants to maximize revenue for the service.
Most laptop models out there won't be able to last over 3 hours.
What's the point of charging $12.95 for WiFi on flights of more than 3 hours if you can't even use it for more than 3 hours because your battery dies?
Most laptop models out there won't be able to last over 3 hours.
What's the point of charging $12.95 for WiFi on flights of more than 3 hours if you can't even use it for more than 3 hours because your battery dies?
Last edited by hur88; Jan 19, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Jan 19, 2009, 7:52 pm
#20
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: JAX
Programs: Delta DM, SPG Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 317
Am I the only one who sees the futility of WiFi service without electrical outlets? Sure, one could fiddle around on a handheld device for quite a while on battery power, but for serious work on a laptop, we need electricity. My laptop only lasts 20 mins on batteries (I realize this is low, but not many go more than an hour)
Jan 19, 2009, 8:29 pm
#21
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2001
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I agree that the planes need to be equipped with outlets, especially if Delta wants to maximize revenue for the service.
Most laptop models out there won't be able to last over 3 hours.
What's the point of charging $12.95 for WiFi on flights of more than 3 hours if you can't even use it for more than 3 hours because your battery dies?
Most laptop models out there won't be able to last over 3 hours.
What's the point of charging $12.95 for WiFi on flights of more than 3 hours if you can't even use it for more than 3 hours because your battery dies?
Jan 19, 2009, 9:16 pm
#22
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: PHL
Posts: 877
Although I agree power is necessary, many many many go more than an hour. Mine goes more than an hour and I consider that very low.
Edit: Also, does anyone know if this is MAC specific or how they are authenticating etc? I'd like to use my laptop for it's battery life, and then perhaps switch to my PDA?
Edit: Also, does anyone know if this is MAC specific or how they are authenticating etc? I'd like to use my laptop for it's battery life, and then perhaps switch to my PDA?
As present it should be possible to do connection sharing with a laptop. IIRC Mac OS X makes this pretty easy.
(Not saying either of these things is necessarily ethical, only that they are possible...)
Jan 19, 2009, 9:32 pm
#23
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: CVG
Programs: DL 3MM, US 972k (AA 0.0k), Marriott Lifetime Gold, Hertz G, Nurburgring in 8:29
Posts: 2,183
Am I the only one who sees the futility of WiFi service without electrical outlets? Sure, one could fiddle around on a handheld device for quite a while on battery power, but for serious work on a laptop, we need electricity. My laptop only lasts 20 mins on batteries (I realize this is low, but not many go more than an hour)
If I try to edit photos (usually about 1400-2000 at a time) or do anything that taxes the graphics card then I drop down to about 90 minutes.
Jan 19, 2009, 10:36 pm
#24
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: LAX
Posts: 559
Yeowza. I agree, I think it's time for a new battery. I've got an 18 month old MacBook Pro and the battery still runs about 3-3.5 hours if I have the display brightness turned down and am only working on documents.
If I try to edit photos (usually about 1400-2000 at a time) or do anything that taxes the graphics card then I drop down to about 90 minutes.
If I try to edit photos (usually about 1400-2000 at a time) or do anything that taxes the graphics card then I drop down to about 90 minutes.
The internet is the future, and is becoming more and more essential for frequent travelers, so this has to happen sooner or later.
Jan 19, 2009, 10:55 pm
#25
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Atlanta, GA
Programs: Delta PM/CRC/AMEX
Posts: 133
I have yet to fly on a Delta plane with WiFi.......
i had wifi on a flight from LEX-ATL. didn't pay for it b/c the flight was only one hour, but the fact that you could search the delta website for free was great. if you had a connection, you could see if your flight was on time and even look at gate information. they probably should have announced the plane was wifi equipped, as it was apparent not everyone realized this. there is a small logo on the door of the plane that says wifi, but other than that it's not clear unless you have your computer open and it automatically detects the signal.
Jan 19, 2009, 10:58 pm
#26
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: ORD
Programs: AA EXP,2MM, DL Gold,Starwood PLT
Posts: 3,876
However, I really don't see the pricing model working out on shot halls. Makes sense on a 5 to 6 hour flight where you have work to get done or simply to entertian yourself. Not sure it will fly where the price is woth it on a flight under 2 horus. Even I can amuse myself with other things for such a short flight.
Unfornately, this has the potential to become the next Airphone since it does not work on international flights.
Jan 20, 2009, 4:51 am
#27
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Join Date: Apr 2008
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Jan 20, 2009, 5:13 pm
#28
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: LAX
Posts: 559
I don't know if this has been posted in any other thread, but it hasn't been posted here.
Last week there was a post on blog.delta.com regarding the status of installing WiFi on planes. The link is here:
http://blog.delta.com/2009/01/15/mod...wi-fi-updates/
According to the entry, they only had 11 planes equipped with WiFi as of last week. However, starting from Janurary 15th until the 3rd quarter 09, TechOps will be equipping planes with WiFi at a rate of around 10 planes a week.
I would think that's a pretty good rate of installing the system, so hopefully more flights with WiFi will begin to show up.
Last week there was a post on blog.delta.com regarding the status of installing WiFi on planes. The link is here:
http://blog.delta.com/2009/01/15/mod...wi-fi-updates/
According to the entry, they only had 11 planes equipped with WiFi as of last week. However, starting from Janurary 15th until the 3rd quarter 09, TechOps will be equipping planes with WiFi at a rate of around 10 planes a week.
I would think that's a pretty good rate of installing the system, so hopefully more flights with WiFi will begin to show up.
Jan 21, 2009, 12:04 am
#29
Join Date: Oct 2008
Programs: AA PLT, SPG Plat
Posts: 295
Am I the only one who sees the futility of WiFi service without electrical outlets? Sure, one could fiddle around on a handheld device for quite a while on battery power, but for serious work on a laptop, we need electricity. My laptop only lasts 20 mins on batteries (I realize this is low, but not many go more than an hour)
MSY-LGA earlier this week and had the wifi. It was great (but better deals are had on AA's transcons with gogo given the length of flight). My battery on my two year old laptop lasted the entire flight (and then some).
Jan 21, 2009, 8:08 am
#30
Company Representative - Delta Air Lines
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 34
RealDLInsider - WIFI
-- We still only have a handful of aircraft with WIFI onboard, but the ramp-up of aircraft is pretty quick. I believe we will have a couple hundred aircraft installed by the end of this year! I fly quite a bit and haven't hit it yet, so I'm also looking forward to this upgrade.