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AirTran WiFi In Entire Fleet Before August



Benet Wilson/Baltimore benet_wilson@aviationweek.com

AirTran Airways plans to put wifi, via Aircell's Gogo, on all 136 aircraft in its fleet by the end of July. The carrier made the decision to add wifi to all its flights back in October, Chairman, President and CEO Robert Fornaro told The DAILY. "People just assumed we'd be testing wifi, but they didn't realize that we were getting ready to deploy," he said. "We didn't want to make a big deal about it beforehand."

AirTran chose Gogo because it wanted a product that was simple to use, said Fornaro. "Aircell was reliable and had proven broadband, which was everything we needed," he said.

The airline is currently converting two aircraft a night, a process that takes about eight hours, said Fornaro. "We'll move up to three aircraft a night in a few weeks and the entire fleet by the end of July," he said.

The Gogo product will have a tremendous amount of penetration, said Fornaro. "Because we're doing it fleet-wide, it will spark greater interest in the Gogo product beyond AirTran," he stated. The AirTran deal is "hugely important" for Aircell, president and CEO Jack Blumenstein told The DAILY. "Fornaro didn't want to announce the product until it was ready to go, which is a first for a major carrier," he said. "By 2010, we will more than double the number of aircraft with wifi from 1,000 now to 2,500," said Blumenstein.

Thus far, only Virgin America has come close to outfitting its entire fleet. "Twenty-four of our 28 planes have the [Gogo] service, and the entire fleet will be done by May 25," said spokeswoman Abby Lunardini. "Right now, people can see if their flight is wifi-enabled, with an Aircell sign next to our flight schedule." She said all of Virgin America's new Boston and Orange County flights are wifi-enabled."

Delta has Gogo wifi on 132 aircraft, with most being McDonnell Douglas MD88/90s and a few 757s, said spokesman Anthony Black. Delta plans to have 140 aircraft - its entire domestic fleet - fitted with wifi by the third quarter, he added.

Aircell's wifi service is available on all 15 of American Airlines' Boeing 767-200 aircraft in all classes, said Lauren Gass an account executive for the carrier's PR firm Weber Shandwick. "Beginning this year, American is extending the Gogo service to 150 domestic MD-80s and later to [153] 737 aircraft," she said. American is currently committed to installing Gogo on 318 planes, she added.

United announced plans in January to install Gogo in its premium p.s. on transcontinental flights between New York and California by mid-2009. Air Canada inked a deal last September to offer Gogo on trans-border flights, starting with the Airbus A319 fleet this spring.

Southwest is testing Row 44 wifi service on four of its aircraft, said spokeswoman Brandy King. "So far, the testing is going really well. The testing phase should be complete by the end of the summer," she said. "We do not have a target date for installation. We are in the process of testing this new and exciting technology to see if it is right for us."

Alaska Airlines is also testing Row 44 wifi, currently on one aircraft flying on the West Coast, said spokeswoman Bobbie Egan. "We plan on outfitting more aircraft this year. We have not released a timeline," she noted, adding that Alaska plans to complete installation in 2010.

Photo credit: Benet Wilson





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