Southwest details in-flight WiFi plans, announces partnership with Yahoo!
By Darren Murph 
posted February 11th 2009 7:31AM
posted February 11th 2009 7:31AM
[Via Gadling]
posted February 11th 2009 7:31AM
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I hope if theey do in-flight wifi that they'll offer AC power strips at each seat cause most devices can't survive more than 4 hours running on Wifi without electricity.
I'm used to flying for 13 - 16 hours back and forth to Asia. Granted most flights are shorter, but, its still gonne be a neccessity.
Most Southwest flights are under four hours.
Almost zero Southwest flights are greater than 4 hours, so anyone with a modern laptop should be just fine. Perhaps those flying from Tampa to Seattle will encounter problems, or Phoenix to Boston or some such flight, but they would probably have to switch planes and get a chance to throw in some extra juice there.
Also, I completely agree with the statement "The only airline worth flying anymore."
With more airlines offering WiFi how about they snag a bit of the bandwidth and transmit the contents of the blackbox in flight. Sure would help speed up incident investigation.
In my mind, tfm just won the "why didn't I think of that" award for the week... Great idea!
I, for one, disagree with the "only airline worth flying" statement (although Virgin America and JetBlue I wholeheartedly agree with). I suspect that the same people that like Southwest also like camping naked in the wild since it's so cheap. I for one don't mind paying a few bucks more for an airline that doesn't seat my friend on the other side of the plane, and doesn't have the crankiest flight attendants in the world.
"the only airline worth flying anymore"
A lot of truth in that statement, but I have to speak up for Allegiant Air, a smaller airline doing mostly vacation destinations. They do fly out of smaller (also more handy) airports and they compete very well with Southwest on fares.
Yeah well US Airways can make water landings :p
I second allegiant air. They are a good quality airline; southwest is too.
Free would be smart. Providing fast, glitch free WiFi will be even smarter.
And giving everyone free ice cream would be the smartest thing.
that would be so great.
similar -
http://www.techreviews4u.com/2009/02/11/southwest-has-plans-to-test-in-flight-wi-fi-in-a-partnership-with-yahoo/
I love Southwest
Although I fail to see the point of getting Wifi on a Southwest flight. Unless they included access on the terminals, which would never happen, it probably isn't worth the $$$. Their flights simply aren't long enough IMO.
The Southwest terminals I fly into (Phoenix, Baltimore, Orlando Chicago) have free wifi. I'm sure there are others.
@David P
WiFi @ MDW isnt free....
Albuquerque has free wifi.
And I agree that other airlines need to copy Southwest. If they did offer free wifi, and (ac or dc) power, I might drive up to the Detroit airport to use them.
Their commercials are great as well, and I hate commercials.
"the only airline worth flying anymore"
Of the major US carriers, I def agree. Perfect example of what happens when the employees own the company.
Would welcome Wi-Fi with two caveats:
1. Make it an optional service. I don't want to have to pay for it if I'm not using it.
2. Make sure you lock out the ability to use Skype, etc. I don't want to listen to people making phone calls.
Because we all know that the only way of talking trought the internet is using skype right?
Probably there will be a premium on the service, after all, is something 'new'.
For the love of God, pleeeeease, NO CELLPHONES ON PLANES!!!!!!
I luv wifi
"the only airline worth flying anymore"
I don't know, I've had good experiences with Hawaiian Airlines too. They have one of the highest dependability ratings in the United States, I have never had a delay when flying with Hawaiian.
I predict a vast swing of business travellers to SWA if they offer free wifi, or a monthly subscription. I spend enough time on airplanes. The ability to keep up with email for free would be worth it.
Most non-US carriers are really good. Of the US carriers, very few provide the service necessary to compete on the international stage. That is sad.
I thought the FAA said WiFi (and damn near every other radiowave transmitting device) makes planes go crash boom.
Or, maybe, did Boeing build the planes to not crash boom when airline was being paid for use of airwaves?
Southwest + Yahoo? I see a toolbar in your future.
Holy crap, I bet youre right...ugh man!
Southwest's fares aren't that much cheaper than Jet Blue's. I don't fly much, but Jet Blue always has a direct flight, the seats are more comfortable, and the tv's are a nice bonus...
SWA FTW!
I love SouthWest, and I really hope they include the service fleetwide for free! That would be amazing, but even it's a decent price ($4.99ish for unlimited use, and maybe some sort of monthly/annual subscription for heavy travelers) I'd be down.
If anyone really wants to know. The Wifi is on plane #N901 right now.