Flying Wireless
Airlines Hope Passengers Will Pass Time Online at Airports
By D. Ian Hopper
The Associated Press
W A S H I N G T O N, Oct. 8 —Hoping to soothe delayed
passengers, several airlines want to install
wireless Internet access in airport terminals that
will allow travelers to work, surf the Web or even
watch digital movies to pass the time.
Delta Air Lines is already offering the service at its
terminal in Vancouver, British Columbia, and plans to have it
available by the end of next year in its main hub
cities—Atlanta, Cincinnati and Dallas-Fort Worth.
United Airlines, which had the worst on-time
performance in August among the major carriers,
announced plans to start its own Internet service next year
at 30 airports.
Passengers will need only a computer with the right
wireless modem—the latest laptops are equipped—and a
few dollars to pay for access.
Frequent fliers will be able purchase an unlimited access
account for $40 to $60 a month.
Panacea For Delayed Travelers
David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, a
travel advocacy group, sees the move as a panacea for
growing bottlenecks at America’s airports.
“As passengers experience more delays and
cancellations, they find themselves in the waiting areas
longer than they’re used to,” Stempler said. “Clearly, to
make that time more productive, it’s a tremendous benefit
for passengers.”
Some travelers agree.
“Wireless access would be dynamite. The more I can
stay in contact with my factory and my sales people, the
better it’s going to be,” Derrick Gurski, a national sales
manager at a Chicago lighting company, said as he waited
for a flight at Washington’s Reagan National Airport.
Delta and United are partners with Aerzone, a San
Francisco company backed by major electronic industry
players like Nokia and Cisco, to provide wireless local area
networks, or LANs, at airport lounges, gates and terminals.
With a properly equipped computer, travelers will be able
to connect to their office computers through the Internet,
check and send e-mail or shop on the World Wide Web.
For those looking for something a bit lighter, the wireless
pipeline to the Internet is expected to be large enough to
allow passengers to download a DVD movie in three minutes
or watch full-screen television.
In-Flight Access Further Off
The plans come at a time when relations between airlines
and travelers are frayed over delays. Only 70 percent of
planes are making their schedules, the Transportation
Department says. United Airlines came in last among the 10
large carriers in August, with just 42.7 percent on-time
arrivals.
American Airlines already offers wireless access in its
Admirals Club lounges and is choosing a vendor for access at
its gates. Its next project will be high-speed Internet access
in the cabins of its jets.
“It’s on the front burner, but it’s probably going to be
2001 until we even have a beta test,” American Airlines
spokesman Mark Kensall said. “There’s a lot involved in
flight. It’s a lot more complicated than it might seem.”
Dr. Lawrence B. Brilliant, chairman and chief executive of
Aerzone, agreed that in-flight access will take extra time as
airlines work to ensure such communications do not interfere
with the operation of jets. Some cell phones, handheld
games and portable devices can interfere with cockpit
communications.
While the new technology promises possibilities for
passengers, it will not erase all their problems.
“Who’s worried about e-commerce on an airplane when
they don’t even have seats that are comfortable?” asked Jim
Janson, a traveler from San Francisco. |
