In-flight Wi-Fi is Used by Less Than 10% of Passengers
In-flight Wi-Fi is Used by Less Than 10% of Passengers
Posted 07/06/2010 at 5:19pm
| by Ryan Whitwam
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Airlines have been reluctant to share numbers on just how many passengers are logging on to their expensive in-flight Wi-Fi. Now, some new figures from industry analysts indicate that under 10% of fliers are making use of the internet connections available on many commercial flights. As you might expect, the major factor cited for lack up update is price.
Gogo, the largest in-flight Wi-Fi provider, charges $4.95 for flights 90 minutes or less with the price jumping to $10.95 for flights longer than 90 minutes. There are expected to be 2000 planes in the US equipped with Wi-Fi. The cost is likely to stay the same. Many of the companies running the services are just starting out and need all the revenue they can get.
Still, some don't care about the price. They may see a flight as an excuse to unplug from the interwebs. Have you ever paid for in-flight Wi-Fi? What's a reasonable price for the service?
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Cohiba
July 07, 2010 at 5:28am
The short leg priceis fineat $5. Its cheaper then a beer or a sandwich on most airlines. People who are complaining about that price would be unhappy at every price. The long haul price could be a little cheaper, but its pretty close. The bigger problem is power and on a full flight I don't really have ROOM to open and use my laptop. If you have a desktop replacement style laptop, using it is a nightmare. I am seriously consdiering replacing my big laptop with a 1201N just so I can work easier on planes.
jordinyc
July 07, 2010 at 6:58am
it HAS been a while since I've been in a plane. I don't know about anyone else, but I usually can't open the lid 90° without it hitting the seat in front of me. Every model i've brought, big or small, I end up holding it in some ridiculously awkward position just to see the screen, so I look like I'm playing an accordion whenever I use the keyboard. ╰(◔ヮ◔)╯
Esmartuek
July 06, 2010 at 11:46pm
I have to agree... It's all about power plugs. Who carries three spare batteries on them?! Flying cross atlantic in business class back in 04 presented power outlets (the flight attendants were less than helpful), however,You had to buy a special converter -.-
In reply to a previous user comment, After flying on so many different carriers, those screens on delta flights make them much more worth it!
jordinyc
July 07, 2010 at 7:02am
Jet blue is my personal favorite because you can watch live TV on those back-of-head-rest mini-monitors. ╰(◔ヮ◔)╯
Victek
July 06, 2010 at 7:59pm
I flew Delta recently and the in flight WiFi cost $13. When you consider how long the average laptop battery lasts and the fact that there's no AC in "coach" WiFi is hardly worth the money. AC was available in "first class", but I don't know if it's practical to make it available to everyone on the plane from an engineering standpoint - it would seriously up the power load. The boeing 757 did have an LCD screen for each seat with a large selection of free music and some free TV as well. I was happy enough without the WiFi <g>.
don2041
July 06, 2010 at 7:58pm
IF AIRLINES OFFERD THESE PERKS UP FRONT MABEY PEOPLE WOULD FLY WITH THEM MORE OFTEN
skramblr
July 06, 2010 at 7:12pm
I agree - need power. I might actually pay $10 for internet on my 14 hour flight to Asia. But my Laptop is only going to last 3 hours. So why bother.... I might as well just watch a couple movies until it dies. That's free.
jordinyc
July 06, 2010 at 6:42pm
One word: OUTLETS! 120 VAC. To the best of my knowledge, most planes that offer WiFi do not have outlets anywhere on the plane except in the bathrooms, and we all know WiFii sucks battery life harder than those little sink drains in said bathrooms suck air. Why would anyone pay extra for the privilege of wasting their whole battery just to send a stupid email. Forgive me if I'd rather use it up watching an entire Lone Wolf and Cub movie. Or two! ╰(◔ヮ◔)╯
snapple00
July 06, 2010 at 6:06pm
I bet if the plane started plummeting toward the ground, that number would rise to 100% since people would need to watch the craziest porn before they bow out.
aviaggio
July 06, 2010 at 5:55pm
Yeah, I'm tired of being nickeled and dimed to death by the airlines. Either toss in wifi for free or forget it. If you can't be disconnected from the web for a few hours then you have some serious issues. No matter what they charge it's just not worth it.
NewGadgeteer
July 06, 2010 at 5:43pm
If they halved the price, they would more than double the number of people using it. The price if of WiFi doesn't need to be sky high. No wonder so many people are asking why fly WiFi.
Caboose
July 06, 2010 at 5:37pm
I think price is the primary factor here. Tickets are expensive, plus they charge you for everything, from a blanket and pillow, to a drink. Maybe if they lowered the price of wireless tubes, more people would use it. I know I'd use it if the price were lower (and available on WestJet)
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
Pylon
July 06, 2010 at 6:05pm
The problem is that everyone wants lower prices. Back in the 90s when drinks and bags flew free, flight attendants were nice, and you got meals on domestic flights, airlines put that all into the cost of the ticket. Why? Because ticket prices were higher and people were willing to fly legacy carriers because they'll get a good flight.
The reason why the airlines nickel and dime is to shave $5 off the price of the ticket. Because everyone uses Expedia, Kayak, etc. and seem to just choose the lowest number in the search without caring for anything else. If airline A had a $200 ticket and airline B had a $210 ticket, most people would choose airline A, regardless of whether airline B offered free food, free bags, and free WiFi, just because the apparent price is lower. And because that magic number is all that counts, even legacy carriers dumped free food, etc. and charged them as extra just to get that magic base ticket price lower. For example Continental offered free meals on domestic flights when no one else did and yet most people weren't interested and instead took the low cost carrier that was $5 cheaper, so they got rid of it and instead made it "extra". Everyone wants low ticket prices and yet complain that service is poor, everything gets nickeled and dimed,etc.
IFLATLINEI
July 06, 2010 at 6:18pm
Dont make excuses for the Airlines. Proper marketing would overcome all that.
Pylon
July 06, 2010 at 6:25pm
Does the choice of airline come in to play when you book a flight? Do you consider an airline's reputation when booking your flight? Or are they just colorful symbols and names with a price attached to them? Almost no amount of marketing would fix the problem if people don't care about which airline they're on.
aviaggio
July 07, 2010 at 9:52am
We generally don't care cause there is little to no distinction between them. If airline A is going to charge me $210 for a ticket and give me free bags, a meal, and free wifi, I'd choose it over airline B that charged me $200 for a ticket and then $25 for a bag, no meal, and $15 wifi.
Why choose a particular carrier when they are all pretty much the same in what they offer -- which is NOTHING. I used to really enjoy flying (oh, about 10-15 years ago). Now it's a painful chore, so much so I wish we had really good trains here so I would never have to step on a plane ever again.
Carpnter
July 06, 2010 at 8:09pm
and the seat selection. I fly quite a bit for business and I hate gettting stuck with a crappy selection of seats on on a window seat in one of those crappy Canda Regional Jets that Delta uses.
The first thing I look for is the flight schedule and then I start looking at the seat selection available. I don't care about the price and Wi-fi on the flight is too much trouble to mess with when you are in coach. There just isn't enough space to use your laptop on the tray and the cost of the Wi-fi isn't worth it.
soggybomb
July 06, 2010 at 9:04pm
Part of the deal with crappy services provided by domestic airlines (save JetBlue, which still kicks ass) is the need by legacy carriers to feel that they need 10 flights per day or more on a given route. SO, instead of flying larger aircraft and fewer flights (all of which would be timely), they fly lots of regional jets that clog the skies and are often delayed as a result of scheduling traffic. Regional carriers run on a business model that only makes slim profits per seat, so they are as bare-bones as possible. Result, poor customer service, few ammenities, and pilots getting paid $16,000/year.
aerocrj
July 07, 2010 at 3:28am
"Result, poor customer service, few ammenities, and pilots getting paid $16,000/year."
Most of the customer service for the Regional's are provided by the main line carrier (Delta, United etc..) not by the Regional carriers. As far has the pilots pay is concerned for the very few that may only get $16,000/year that's only for less than 1200 hrs of work and for only the pilots right out of flight school with only the bare min. of flight hours to hold their qualification, most make much more than that. As far as the Wi-Fi goes I think they should cut a deal with the services available at the airports and charge one fee that carries over to the flight. Boingo charges $18 per month for use at any airport or hot spot that they service. You could extend this to include the flight and get more use out of it. Also don't forget that Smartphone’s have Wi-Fi and with ones that have Skype or an equivalent can make calls using it during the flight. With netbooks and tables PC's becoming more popular with 5+ hour battery life a reasonably priced Wi-Fi connection would be worth it. But, for those that must stay connected paying for the service at the airport and then again on the flight it can get pretty expensive.
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