Delta Air Lines to offer in-flight broadband internet service from October

As a part of the efforts by airlines to attract customers in the time of exorbitant fuel prices and economic slowdown, Delta Air Lines, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the United States, will start offering broadband internet service on its entire domestic mainline fleet from October 2008. This would make Delta the first large United States-based airline to offer its passengers a technology that lets passengers surf the internet while flying.

In a statement, Delta Air Lines said it would offer the new service on its entire fleet of 330 domestic aircraft by the summer 2009, starting with 75 by the end of 2008.

Delta is starting the service with its MD-88 and MD-90s, the planes that fly up and down the US East Coast.

Continental Airlines – based in Houston, Texas, the United States, and operating flights to destinations throughout the United States and destinations in Canada, Latin America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region – had earlier announced its plans to offer in-flight internet service across a majority of its mainline fleet.

Other airlines such as Southwest Airlines, the low-cost airline based in Dallas, Texas, the United States, and Virgin America, another US-based budget carrier, are either planning tests or are in the process of outfitting their planes with in-flight internet.

For use of the internet, Delta Air Lines will charge a flat fee of $9.95 on flights lasting 3 hours or less, and $12.95 on flights of more than 3 hours.

According to aviation experts, Delta Air Lines is trying to outsmart rival JetBlue Airways, the United States-based low-cost airline which is reputed for outfitting planes with satellite television, and American Airlines, which is planning to launch onboard internet service later in 2008.

Delta Air Lines operates an extensive domestic and international network, spanning North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean. Northwest Airlines, the principal subsidiary of Northwest Airlines Corporation and headquartered in Eagan, Minnesota, the United States, has announced that it would merge with Delta Air Lines.

Delta plans to install the internet service on Northwest Airlines’ planes if the United States Justice Department approves the merger.

The website washingtonpost.com quoted an aviation consultant as commenting on Delta’s in-flight internet offer: “If they charge for it, they are going to make millions and millions of dollars. Most of us cannot be away from the internet or our laptops for very long. We get separation anxiety when we are not on the internet for a few hours.”

Passengers with WiFi-enabled laptops, smartphones and PDAs can access the onboard network. Though the service allows internet access, e-mail and messaging, voice calls are not possible since the use of mobile phone is banned on airplanes by two US federal agencies, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Communications Commission.

According to the statement form Delta Air Lines, the airline is tying up with Aircell of Itasca, Illinois, a privately held in-flight communication company, to set up on-board internet service. Aircell’s technology uses special antennas on airplanes and cellphone towers on the ground to provide internet connectivity inside planes.