What happened to phones on airplanes
Sep 1, 23, 9:32 am
#1
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What happened to phones on airplanes
Back in the day, I remember having a phone at every seat. You could call someone and there was a little credit card swipe thing to pay. I associate these phones with the calls made by passengers and crew on 9/11. Were these mostly a novelty or was there another reason they were phased out?
Sep 1, 23, 9:46 am
#2
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Back in the day, I remember having a phone at every seat. You could call someone and there was a little credit card swipe thing to pay. I associate these phones with the calls made by passengers and crew on 9/11. Were these mostly a novelty or was there another reason they were phased out?
Sep 1, 23, 10:24 am
#4
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The FCC sold the spectrum used by Airfone to Aircell aka GoGO and LiveTV. The service averaged 2 to 3 users per flight. Verizon decided to exit the business with most assets being sold to LiveTV. AirFone averaged 2 to 3 users per flight.
Sep 1, 23, 10:37 am
#5
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They werent used very much by passengers too costly for most and not used by most passengers and became even less useful for consumers and more of a maintenance and carry cost burden for the airline+phone service providers as cell phones/blackberry/smartphones took off along with internet access on the ground and even in the air.
Sep 1, 23, 2:02 pm
#6
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I remember seeing them starting in maybe the mid-90s and they had disappeared within 7-8 years.
Sep 1, 23, 2:12 pm
#7
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End of 2006 is when Verizon discontinued AirFone service and sold most of the assets to LiveTV. Verizon tried without any success to provide limited website access during the last several years to AOL, MSN and Yahoo.
Sep 1, 23, 5:36 pm
#8
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I had friends who traveled extensively for work and used them for work calls frequently. One investment banking friend told me he once needed to be on two separate calls at the same time and had an Airfone in each ear.
I remember seeing them starting in maybe the mid-90s and they had disappeared within 7-8 years.
I remember seeing them starting in maybe the mid-90s and they had disappeared within 7-8 years.
I know that I saw them on flights prior to then, but that flight was after I had gotten my first credit card, so it had to have been after '86. (and before '89 when I upgraded girlfriends :-D )
Sep 1, 23, 6:01 pm
#9
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They were a lifesaver one time when I had to call the pediatrician on call for a potentially serious medical issue with my child who was traveling with me. Luckily, all turned out well.
Sep 4, 23, 5:42 pm
#10
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They date back at least 10 years before that. I remember using one to call my girlfriend on a flight in what had to be 1987 - "You'll never guess where I'm calling from!!! Yeah, really - a plane!!!! Gotta go - this is costing me $16 per minute!!!!"
I know that I saw them on flights prior to then, but that flight was after I had gotten my first credit card, so it had to have been after '86. (and before '89 when I upgraded girlfriends :-D )
I know that I saw them on flights prior to then, but that flight was after I had gotten my first credit card, so it had to have been after '86. (and before '89 when I upgraded girlfriends :-D )
I would use them to dial into conference calls at times, but my primary uses were to arrange for getting picked up at the airports on arrival, to finalize my accommodation situations, to get info updates, and to enter orders into an automated system. Once internet access at airports came into reach for me and I was no longer stuck with dial-in modems to get online at airports too what little use I had for the in-flight phone services evaporated for the most part.
Sep 9, 23, 7:06 pm
#12
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Along the same type of airport technology — recall the phones in airports for the various hotels? You’d either pickup the dedicated handset or press a button to call a specific hotel.
They both have fond memories of air travel.
They both have fond memories of air travel.
Sep 11, 23, 6:25 pm
#13
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You can buy one here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/115485194809
Although, looking at that connector, good luck making it work again. I have a feeling there's a lot going on there and making it work is probably more complex than just tip & ring connections.
Although, looking at that connector, good luck making it work again. I have a feeling there's a lot going on there and making it work is probably more complex than just tip & ring connections.
Sep 12, 23, 6:22 pm
#14
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I had friends who traveled extensively for work and used them for work calls frequently. One investment banking friend told me he once needed to be on two separate calls at the same time and had an Airfone in each ear.
I remember seeing them starting in maybe the mid-90s and they had disappeared within 7-8 years.
I remember seeing them starting in maybe the mid-90s and they had disappeared within 7-8 years.
Oct 18, 23, 1:37 am
#15
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Does anyone remember when these had a Data Port, and you could connect a laptop to them? I feel as like my laptop connected at like 12kpbs, nowhere near 56k, but I remember using one to connect to America Online, and than connect to my companies Outlook Mail. I did that for three or four flights, where I had to get something done, that was important. It was SO SLOW... I remember it took like 5 minutes to hear the automated "Welcome", after it connected.
No clue what that cost was. But I do remember, I actually used one to make a personal call sometime in 2005 or 2006, and it was about $12, for a 10 minute conversation. Verizon I think, had a special discount, if you were a customer of their Cellular Service.
No clue what that cost was. But I do remember, I actually used one to make a personal call sometime in 2005 or 2006, and it was about $12, for a 10 minute conversation. Verizon I think, had a special discount, if you were a customer of their Cellular Service.
