Boeing looking to sell/scrap Connexion?

After several years of unsuccessfully attempting to coax people into surfing the Internet for a fee instead of sleeping during their international flights, it looks like Boeing has finally given up and started seeking buyers for its Connexion service, according to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal (subscription required, as usual). While the company had high hopes for the pricey offering (it costs $27 to stay connected for a full flight) when it was announced in April 2000, the lack of adoption by US carriers -- only a handful of foreign airlines such as Lufthansa, Air China, and El Al have installed the necessary equipment -- combined with the lukewarm reception from passengers have convinced Boeing to ditch the service at all costs. The Journal reports that three satellite firms are negotiating to either buy the division outright or become major partners, but if the parties involved are unable to come to an agreement, Boeing is apparently willing to simply dump the service altogether, according to someone familiar with the talks. Still, even if Boeing does decide to drop the ax, this certainly won't be the last you'll hear about in-flight broadband, as airlines have shown that they'll do whatever they can to squeeze a few more bucks out of you after you've already shelled out for your ticket. Headphone rental fee, anyone?

[Via MobileRead]

[Alex Guichet @ Jun 25th 2006 7:22PM]

I used it once, and I was really pleased. I played WoW on it, no lag or connection losses. $27 bucks for just over 4h of fun on an 9hr flight? SOLD! :)

[Alexandre D @ Jun 25th 2006 7:33PM]

so, let's resume, first phones, the most expensive phones on (or off) earth, now broadband, almost decent...well...i guess they have to try and make up for the ongoing fuel crisis, but if this were properly marketed (aimed at buisness/first-class buisnessmen, like, "need to stay connected? we can connect you or sth like that) and priced by the flight time (27$ out of a 150$ trip is a lot), this could have taken off (yay! crummy word game!)

[justin j @ Jun 25th 2006 7:34PM]

I wouldn't pay those screw balls another dime. Let them fold as they may and re-shuffle.---I also only fly about once a year

[Barry Melton @ Jun 25th 2006 7:56PM]

It seems like they could easily add that to the cost of a first or business class ticket (for perhaps $30-40), though I'm not sure if that would be significant revenue (considering the limited first/business class seating). Since they'd already be (hopefully) 'breaking even' on those sales though, they could possibly offer it at a discounted rate for coach passengers. I know I'd definitely pay $10-15 for it on a flight, but for some reason, $20 just seems too much for my typical 3-4 hour flight

[evo @ Jun 25th 2006 8:12PM]

Well, I'd buy it if they'd (1) make power available without the $1500 surcharge (i.e. the difference between a coach and business class ticket), and (2) make seats large enough so that we could actually use a laptop without the jackass in front of us crushing the screen when jacks the seat back unexpectedly.

[Oddmanout @ Jun 25th 2006 8:13PM]

That's really unfortunate...none of the flights I've ever been on have offered Connexion. I'll have to check and see if JAL or ANA offer it, because web access would make my 11 hour transpacific flight a lot more enjoyable.

I mean 'Kingdom of Heaven' is only good the first 3 times through (in a row), then you develop a fierce desire to put a fist through the monitor (hopefully decapitating the guy in the seat in front of you whose had his seat fully reclined for 7 hours straight, through two meals and all kinds of turbulence...)

[Keith L. Dick @ Jun 25th 2006 8:16PM]

$27 dollars for a connection, I think I'd rather sleep the entire flight... hehe

[Zod @ Jun 25th 2006 8:35PM]

Try flying on a 16 to 17 hour flight between New York and Hong Kong. Net access up there would make that experience a lot more tolerable.

[Drew @ Jun 25th 2006 8:52PM]

I think the real problem is that Connexion is just not widely available. I'd be using it all the time on my regular flights if it was available on any of the airlines I use.

[risingsunofnihon @ Jun 25th 2006 9:45PM]

Sitting here at home in front of my own computer, it's easy to scoff at the thought of paying $27 for the privilege of connecting to the Internet for a few hours. However, I'm sure my tune would change if I were actually trapped on a plane with nothing else to do. So, yeah, I'm surprised that whole thing didn't work out for them.

[russ @ Jun 25th 2006 10:31PM]

travelling from australia this sound like a great idea to me!
sydney-singapore-london: 23 hours
sydney-lax: 13 hours
sydney-lax-nyc: 20 hours
maybe they should be pitching it to airlines that do the long-haul flights..

[Ichiro @ Jun 25th 2006 10:44PM]

ANA offers High Speed wifi internet on their NY to Japan non stop flights. It works great! It makes 14hrs on the airplane so much better.

[China Law Blog @ Jun 25th 2006 10:55PM]

I use this everytime I fly Asiana and I absolutely love it. I got a whole slew of discount cards and I can usually go one way for only $10. There is nothing like being able to tell someone that you will not be able to take their kid to basketball practice (with your own kid) because you are on an airplane over the Pacific Ocean.

[Dean Bubley @ Jun 26th 2006 2:38AM]

I find it amazing that so few airlines have rolled this out. I fly Korean Air last year & was really disappointed that it was an older plane that didn't have it fitted.

$27 is incredibly cheap for a transatlantic's flight worth of unlimited-use connectivity. To put this in context - it's cheaper than a day of WiFi connectivity at many European hotels. Or cheaper than transferring 3MB over GPRS with many international roaming tariffs. Cheaper than a return train ticket between Heathrow Airport and central London.

The main problem has been that none of the US or European short-haul flights has had it installed, so the overall economies of scale for Boeing haven't worked as fast as they might. Poor timing all round as I guess the airlines have been pretty risk-averse over the last few years about new investments I guess,

[Ramon @ Jun 26th 2006 6:05AM]

Wifi connection means communication! I use it regularly on Lufthansa flights to Asia. Wifi + Skype is definitely a killer in the plane.

[Mark @ Jun 26th 2006 6:17AM]

Heck, the problem isn't that people aren't interested, the problem is that it's not available!!! I've been wanting this service for years and years, and I fly a few times every year on long haul flights - Europe/US, Japan/Europe, US/Japan etc. and I have NEVER, ONCE, seen Internet available. I bring my laptop just in case and the service is never available. I'd glady shell out 27 bucks to kill time on my 12 hour flights!!

[Neo @ Jun 26th 2006 6:21AM]

Singapore Airlines also offers Connexion (I know, 'cos that's where I signed up for it...). I think it's worth it on a long haul flight. Flight Simulator Online anyone? ;-)

[Donald @ Jun 26th 2006 7:31AM]

As a frequent flyer on LH from Frankfurt, I can say Connexion works great and provides a fast and mostly reliable service. I've used it several times: IM, e-mail, surfing (incl. downloading updates) all work very well. I haven't used it with VPN (other than SSL for e-banking) or with Skype (I'm not that anti-social). The price is right (cheaper then T-Mobile Hotspots in Germany with 6 USD/h), but only if you fly business or first - otherwise you'll find out that there is no place to plug in your laptop in coach. Oh, and it works with Mac, no need to install crappy software.

[Mister @ Jun 26th 2006 7:33AM]

You can signup through Boingo: http://www.boingo.com/in-flight_wifi.html

[gig @ Jun 26th 2006 8:32AM]

I just had a flight from Chicago to Frankfurt on LH, both trips had the services, it's really great. My laptop only gets about 2 hours of battery (it's getting old), so I paid about $15 for 2 hours of services each way. It's well worth it, I hope this continues in some other form/company. $27 is not alot to pay for an 8 hour flight if you can get power! :)

I can't sleep on planes anyway

[Rich L. @ Jun 26th 2006 8:33AM]

I found this link via Google w/out WSJ subscription:
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB115094804596687272-lMyQjAxMDE2NTIwMjkyNDI4Wj.html

But I would think new start-ups such as AeroMobile, OnAir might like this story.

[peter @ Jun 26th 2006 10:16AM]

the connexion service is a god-send for a transatlantic flight. i use my nokia 770 and just surf at tremendous leisure- an ideal time-killer.

[Matt @ Jun 26th 2006 12:27PM]

I am surprised that more airlines didnt take to this

[j-dizzle @ Jun 26th 2006 1:18PM]

I think $27/flight is a really good deal.

It takes a lot of development to make an antenna and a control system for internet that is flight worthy (aka won't explode in flight and take the plane down w/ it)..

so it takes a lot of time getting it qualified by the FAA. this isnt cheap.

not only that, but the extra wiring involved and the installation..

This is a major setback.

[Bryant @ Jun 26th 2006 2:06PM]

I tried this out a couple months back,

for those of you who claim to have used SKYPE or been playing Warcraft with no lag, I'm sorry, but I don't believe you. While the connection speed was decent, latency was just horrible.

Also, Korean Air claims to have power outlets available in all classes, but I was only able to find power outlets in exit row seats in coach. Fortunately, I booked myself in an exit row.

I wrote up about this a while back

http://www.bryantchoung.com/archives/2006/04/fastest_wifi_ho.shtml

[afroloop @ Jun 26th 2006 2:41PM]

I can not sleep on planes unless I'm in first class (which I hardly ever am) so I'd pay for net access even if it was expensive, it would be something to do.

[Tim UF @ Jun 26th 2006 5:11PM]

Considering that part of the preflight pep-talk that the they give (on domestic flights) says that laptops may only be used with the wireless card DISABLED, and that this is an FAA mandated talk, I wonder if there is a provision for 802.11b/g in the FAA flight communications write-ups?

[DrBuzzo @ Jun 26th 2006 8:43PM]

I read about this thing a while ago. If I remember correctly, this damn thing costs 100,000 dollars plus to outfit a plane with. I'm not sure exactly why. So, I'm introducing my own system.

The Dr Buzzo (tm) in-flight internet system!

1. Phased Array Ku/Ka Band Tracking Antenna - $12,000
(you can get them for a lot less..but this would be the commercial version)

2. Exterior Raydome (not sure how much..but not a lot. Check out a military surplus place)
3. Mid-end computer runing linux ($400)
4. Satellite internet modem ($200 or free with contract)
5. Coax cable and cat-5 ($75)
6. A few access points (~$250)

Alrighty...there ya go! Now just sign up for a satellite internet provider.

[Julie Chadwick @ Jun 26th 2006 9:25PM]

So did these screwballs make ANY money at all with this project? With all that they invested, I doubt it. I don't see why they aren't sticking it out longer.

[Richard Cartwright @ Jul 3rd 2006 7:01PM]

Dr. Buzzo: The only problem with your lashup idea is that part of the cost of installing the system is probably getting the aircraft re-certed. Not to mention what Boeing had to invest to get the system certifed for in flight use to start with. Keeping a sat lock when flying at 600-700 mph is a non-trivial task to start with. Keeping the FAA happy, even more so.

[pcbb.david @ Jul 30th 2006 2:55AM]

wouldnt more people use it if it were say 15 dollars? especially on those long flights between asia/europe/north america.