Thursday, October 28, 2010

Southwest Airlines to charge $5 for onboard Wi-Fi

Southwest Airlines senior vice president Dave Ridley says Southwest tried prices from $2 to $12 to connect on its new onboard Wi-Fi service, with different prices for length of trips, types of devices and other factors.

After much consideration, Southwest decided to go simple and charge a flat $5 for all flights and all devices for anyone who wants to go online with their laptop computer, iPhone, other smartphone or whatever, Ridley said Thursday at Southwest Airlines' media day.

The carrier currently has about 32 Model Airplanes with Wi-Fi equipment installed from Row 44. Row 44 uses satellite-based technology, which Ridley says has greater bandwidth and better technology than the ground-based technology offered by competitor Aircell, which has tied up most U.S. airlines. (He didn't name Aircell, but that's the big guy in the room.)

The $5 charge is an "extended introductory offer" that will last at least until Southwest finishes installing the Row 44 equipment in its entire fleet of more than 540 Model Aircraft.

Earlier in the day, reporters asked Southwest officials about what it will do when it incorporates AirTran Airways into Southwest. AirTran uses Aircell for Wi-Fi, and it also offers XM Radio.

The answer: We'll have to see what AirTran's contracts are with other providers, and we can't know that competitive information until we formally close the merger.

Ridley said Southwest passengers will be able to see information online without paying the fee, such as being able to buy stuff on Airmall's webpage. Once on, Ridley said, passengers are more likely to pay $5 for full access to the Internet.

Before unveiling the $5 fee, Ridley showed a chart from a competitor that showed a matrix of choices of prices depending on flight length or equipment used.

A Southwest guy said that the airline had a really good "take rate" in early trials when it let passengers get on the system for free.

By the way, I tried to file this from a Southwest Airlines airplane upon which the carrier and Row 44 was demonstrating the system.

But even with Row 44 people trouble-shooting the problem, most of us never were able to get online. (Oh, well, the technology is designed to work at 37,000 feet, not 10 feet.)


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