Chris Leckness

AirCell, the leading wireless data and voice communications provider in business aviation, announced it is teaming with American Airlines to test broadband services with passengers across the U.S. beginning in 2008. AirCell's new Broadband Internet service will allow business and leisure passengers to check e-mail, surf the Web, tap into an office network and stay current on the latest news, using their own Wi-Fi enabled laptops, PDAs, iPhones, BlackBerrys and portable gaming systems -- while in flight. Passenger testing will be conducted on American Airlines fleet of Boeing 767-200 aircraft that primarily fly transcontinental routes. As the first to launch in-flight broadband capabilities, American and AirCell are pioneering the last frontier of domestic Internet service.

This high-speed broadband Internet service is made possible by AirCell's unique air-to-ground network, which uses the latest technology to transmit and receive data between the ground and the aircraft. American Airlines customer testing will incorporate the following features and capabilities upon initial rollout:

• Nationwide in-flight broadband Internet service
• Coast-to-coast, border-to-border, U.S. coverage, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific and the Canadian to the Mexican borders -- day
• Usable by passengers equipped with 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi enabled devices Real-time access to the Internet (using the passenger's own browser, bookmarks, etc.)
• An array of context and destination-related content
  

The cost of the service on American Airlines will be announced at the time of service roll-out. For information about AirCell and its broadband Internet service visit AirCell 

Source: AirCell press release

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ralarosa

Don't know if this is a good thing or bad thing. I can almost see someone trying to use skype to make a call on a long flight, yapping away incessantly about nothing. That would be bad.

I fly weekly and at least I can count on some downtime. As soon as I land and turn the BB on, I see hordes of emails coming through. Being able to email in the air could be a bad thing too.