Alaska Airlines to offer in-flight internet in all its planes

Alaska Airlines, based in Seattle, Washington, the United States, has announced that it will offer in-flight Wi-Fi facility on all of its flights, using Aircell’s Gogo service.

Aircell’s Gogo service lets the passengers browse the internet and use e-mail while flying, using a laptop or other personal electronic device equipped with Wi-Fi facility.

In a statement, Alaska Airlines, a unit of Alaska Air Group Incorporated, said the airline is working with Aircell to install the Gogo service on a Boeing 737-800 aircraft. After the installation, Alaska Airlines will start testing the in-flight internet service in order to obtain certification from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA.)

Once the FAA’s certification is received, the carrier will begin outfitting its entire fleet of with Wi-Fi, starting with Boeing 737-800 aircraft that fly on longer routes.

The airline said it expects to equip all its aircraft with in-flight internet by the end of 2010.

Alaska Airlines will charge $4.95 and upwards for the Wi-Fi, depending on the length of flight and the device used.

While AirTran Airways, the low-cost based in Orlando, Florida, the United States, and a few other carriers already provide in-flight Wi-Fi on all their flights, many airlines offer the service on some of their flights.

Aircell said its Gogo network, which is at present available in the continental United States, will be expanded to offer in-flight internet service for the main destinations in the state of Alaska.

Earlier, Alaska Airlines had tested the in-flight internet service offered by Row 44, but later went for Aircell. The Aircell technology has already been installed on 730 aircraft belonging to United States-based airlines, including Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and Virgin America.

Steve Jarvis, vice-president (marketing) of Alaska Airlines, said in the statement that Aircell possesses a “proven track record” of having installed “affordable” in-flight Wi-Fi facility in several airlines and that Aircell’s equipment can be installed fast.

Alaska Airlines, which operates services to 4 islands of Hawaii direct from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington, said the Aircell Gogo service will not be available on its flights to Hawaii. Alaska Airlines’ flights to Canada and Mexico will not provide the in-flight internet service, either.

Row 44 makes use of satellite technology to enables aircraft flying over water and over remote areas of Alaska to get wireless signals. The technology that Aircell uses is different, in that Aircell utilises ground-based transmitters, which have been installed at present only in 48 states in the lower United States.

In another development, Alaska Airlines and its sister carrier Horizon Air have done away with printed boarding passes and introduced electronic boarding passes in 7 cities in the United States, and also launched the mobile website mobile.alaskaair.com

The electronic boarding pass lets the passengers flying from Anchorage (Alaska), Denver (Colorado), Boise (Idaho), Portland (Oregon), Las Vegas (Nevada), Spokane (Washington), and Seattle (Washington) receive boarding information and also check-in using a mobile device.

Like in the case of a paper boarding pass, the passengers can get their electronic boarding passes at mobile.alaskaair.com up to 24 hours in advance, and up to 1 hour before departure.