Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Getting Onto the Internet at 30,000 Feet or So

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2003 21:18:29 -0500

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/15/business/15AIR.html

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January 15, 2003

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Today's News Past Week Past 30 Days Past 90 Days Past Year Since 1996

Getting Onto the Internet at 30,000 Feet or So
By EDWARD WONG

or many air travelers, flying has become an escape from the modern-day cyclone of phone calls, e-mail and instant text messages.

But some of the world's largest airlines are now rolling out technology that allows passengers to surf the Internet, check e-mail and beam text messages to the ground.

Lufthansa Airlines, the German carrier, begins flying a Boeing 747-400 today between Frankfurt and Washington outfitted with Internet connectivity developed by the Boeing Company. Next month, British Airways plans to start a trial flight with the same technology between London and New York. Japan Airlines and SAS, the Scandinavian carrier, have signed contracts with Boeing to outfit nearly a dozen planes each to offer Internet service next year.

Later this month, Cathay Pacific, the airline based in Hong Kong, will offer e-mail service on 40 planes using technology developed by Tenzing Communications, a small company based in Seattle that is partly owned by Airbus, Boeing's rival.

Another system, jointly developed by Tenzing and a company called ARINC, is already being used by Virgin Atlantic Airways, which has four planes that allow travelers to send brief text messages — at $2.50 each — that are typed out on video screens on the backs of seats. Virgin has a contract to install the system on its entire fleet by year's end; the technology has also been tested by Air Canada and Singapore Airlines.

The big question is whether passengers — especially business travelers — will pay to plug into the digital grid at 30,000 feet.

Those airlines that use Boeing's service, called Connexion by Boeing, expect to charge passengers $30 to $35 a piece for unlimited Internet access. Tenzing executives said airlines carrying its e-mail system, which does not allow Internet surfing, were expected to charge $10 to $20.

"It all depends on the pricing," said Robert W. Mann, an airline consultant based in Port Washington, N.Y. "Anything airlines can do to empower business traveler connectivity is good for the airlines. If they can do it while making a buck, so much the better. I think those things are doable, and I think business travelers will like them."

Both Boeing and Airbus, the European consortium based in France, announced their intentions to provide Internet connectivity during the height of the dot-com bubble. The three largest United States airlines said at the time that they were in contract talks with Connexion. But after the Sept. 11 attacks, and the slump in air traffic that followed, the airlines scrapped those plans.

The two aircraft makers nonetheless forged ahead with their projects, which are based on competing visions of what they think passengers want from Internet connectivity.

Boeing uses costly high-speed broadband transmission that allows Internet surfing because it says passengers want a full range of options. Tenzing and Airbus argue that most passengers just want an e-mail or messaging service.

"Jumping immediately to broadband is a significant financial risk and immediate financial investment," said Philippe Chenevier, vice president for special projects at Airbus. "It's like if you have a new territory and you build interstates with four lanes whereas you have only two cars."

Other companies also working on airborne connectivity are aiming their products elsewhere because they think the passenger market is too limited. Qualcomm has developed a broadband system that it hopes to sell to the federal government for security uses, said Jonas Neihardt, the company's vice president for federal government affairs.

Boeing and Lufthansa will be able to gauge whether their bet will pay off as the Frankfurt-Washington flight goes through its trial run in the next three months. Passengers will have access to the Internet in one of two ways: by running an Ethernet connection between their laptops and ports available on seats in first class, most of business class and the rear of economy class; or by using a wireless modem that taps into a "hot spot" throughout the cabin.

Lufthansa will not charge fees during the trial because it wants to see how passengers use the service, though the airline will ask each user how much he or she would pay, said Burkard Wigger, general manager of Lufthansa FlyNet, which is what the company calls its product.

Mr. Wigger said he expected Lufthansa to introduce the service more widely next year on long-haul flights, and to charge $30 to $35 a passenger using it.

The British Airways test will also run three months, starting on Feb. 18. But only passengers in the first three of four classes will have Internet access. And Boeing and British Airways have decided to charge about $35 a use during the trial.

"It will help us better ascertain passenger desire, how the meter will run and what to charge for the flight segment," said Scott Carson, president of Connexion.

Continued
1 | 2 | Next>>

PRACTICAL TRAVELER; Flight Check-In: Do It Yourself  (December 22, 2002)

TRAVEL ADVISORY: CORRESPONDENT'S REPORT; Fliers Will Soon Be Able To Go Online On Board  (December 8, 2002)

PRACTICAL TRAVELER; Flight Delayed? Find Out Fast  (December 1, 2002)

Agents' Survival Strategies  (November 24, 2002)

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