Alaska Airlines to bring Wi-Fi to fleet of aircraft with Aircell |
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Alaska Airlines to bring Wi-Fi to fleet of aircraft with Aircell
Alaska Airlines is dumping its previously announced Wi-Fi test partner and switching to Aircell Gogo in hopes of outfitting its entire fleet of aircraft with Internet service in a more timely manner.
The Seattle airline this morning cited Aircell Gogo's track record of providing Wi-Fi to more than 700 aircraft, with Alaska's vice president of marketing Steve Jarvis saying in a release that "their reliable, lower-cost equipment can be installed quickly, allowing Alaska Airlines to introduce Gogo service to our customers as soon as possible."
Jarvis did not specify a roll out time in the release, but spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said they don't anticipate the process taking long. She said the hope is to have the entire fleet outfitted by the end of year.
But the introduction of Wi-Fi on Alaska Airlines' fleet is good news for Seattle area travelers. The airline -- despite its moniker -- calls Seattle home base and thousands of business travelers use it to fly to the Bay Area, southern California and other destinations. Alaska plans to charge $4.95 and up for the service depending upon the length of the flight.
To make sure that Alaska Airlines can service Alaska, Aircell said that it intends to expand its system to destinations in that state. The company has plenty of capital in which to expand services, having raised $176 million in financing last month.
The decision to switch to Gogo is a strike against in-flight Internet provider Row 44, which had previously been chosen to test its system with Alaska Airlines. At the time, Alaska Airlines said that Row 44's satellite-based system was unique since it operated over land and water, which was important to the carrier since it operates numerous flights to Alaska.
Glenn Fleishman at Wi-Fi Networking News calls Alaska's decision a "blow" against Row 44, which now holds onto Southwest Airlines as a client.
Alaska Airlines' Egan said that the company "learned a lot during the tests" with Row 44, which she said has a "great product." However, Alaska chose Aircell Gogo because it could outfit aircraft in a more timely and cost effective manner. She said it takes a day to install the Aircell system, which compares to three days for Row 44.
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