Air Canada inks deal with Aircell for in-flight WiFi

Check it, Canucks -- Air Canada is following in the footsteps of several other airlines by finally taking the plunge on in-flight WiFi. Similar to American Airlines, it has landed a deal with Aircell in order to bring the intarwebz to the friendly skies on select flights. Starting next spring, certain transborder flights from the Great North to the West Coast of America will give passengers the option of hopping online for C$12.95, and Charles McKee, the airline's vice-president of marketing, has asserted that it has every intention of rolling the service out "across its North American fleet" in the future. Now, if only every other airline would follow suit...

[Via Jaunted]

[Jason Bourne @ Sep 10th 2008 6:38AM]

FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[zomg0t @ Sep 10th 2008 6:58AM]

Welcome to Engadget and CONGRATULATIONS! I can tell, you'll fit right in around here. Keep, it up, Jason! You're on your way to the top! Oh, and I better not forget the complimentary positive rank! =D

[Ogo @ Sep 10th 2008 6:41AM]

"across its North American fleet" = next 50 years

[waterboy99troop @ Sep 10th 2008 7:08AM]

if you actually travelled on air canada, you'll know you would get anything BUT the friendly skies...

they're just trying to distract us from the bad service!...

[Jake @ Sep 10th 2008 11:43AM]

It fits with Air Canada's unofficial motto: "We're not happy 'till you're not happy"

-jp

[Greg @ Nov 6th 2008 1:38AM]

I dont know why people complain so much about Air Canada. I rarely have problems when flying with them, however with other airlines I am not as fortunate. Untill you fly around the world you will not realise how much better the service is on Air Canada than most airlines.

[Down @ Sep 10th 2008 7:27AM]

WiFi is unstable and unreliable as it is - imagine paying to have it on the plane only to see the inevitable popup message that reads "... has limited or no connection."

[r3loaded @ Sep 10th 2008 8:27AM]

Wi-Fi depends on what equipment your using - I have a D-Link DIR-655 router and an Intel 4965 chip in my laptop. The laptop maintains a steady 130Mbps (theoretical obviously) across my house, and my max ping in online gaming is 20ms.

Before the D-Link I had a Netgear WGT624 that would crash if you tried to transfer too much or too fast wirelessly. Go figure.

[Darth Lord @ Sep 10th 2008 7:58AM]

now we only need a power outlet under the seat.

[tom @ Sep 10th 2008 9:31AM]

you need to get that special adapter for air. Yes, most long haul plane on AC has it

[Sinnix @ Sep 10th 2008 11:06AM]

Most Air Canada flights have standard North American style power outlets, USB jacks, and touch screen displays with Movies and TV on demand.

All for free.

[Jake @ Sep 10th 2008 11:44AM]

Don't worry, it won't be free much longer...

-jp

[TareX @ Sep 10th 2008 7:59AM]

So not available for the long transatlantic trips? Why? That's the whole point.

[LT73 @ Sep 10th 2008 8:46AM]

$12.95 to connect?

Give me a friggin break.

Offer it for free and THEN I will get excited.

Ridiculous.

[y3k.nik @ Sep 10th 2008 9:19AM]

If only they stopped charging for the second baggage, while charging for internet.. but charging both both is blashphemy

[cakes05 @ Sep 10th 2008 9:51AM]

$12.95???? That is insane, considering these flights will be no more that 3 hours.

$12.95/3 * 24 * 365 = $37814 per year! Thats a bit steep.

[Chris @ Sep 10th 2008 10:00AM]

How good is this? Could I play an MMORPG with out dying from lag?

[Nacho PATA @ Sep 10th 2008 11:36AM]

No. Your ping times will likely be in the 1000ms+ range.

[nevcan @ Sep 10th 2008 11:43AM]

too bad everyone hates air canada, the airline that gets rid of flotation devices to save on fuel.
I fly westjet

[cc @ Sep 10th 2008 3:57PM]

No kidding... although I'm sure WestJet won't be far behind fi this actually gets some business customers on board. I'd probably shell out $12 for it on WestJet, even though I'd probably just waste it spending the whole time tracking my flight on Google Maps... :)

[everunman @ Sep 10th 2008 5:41PM]

I recently flew with them again recently and their service has improved 200%, great to have 2 ac adapters per seat row and it would be nice if they offered this to long haul flights