Quantas Airlines to Introduce Wi-Fi

Quantas Airlines is now offering Wi-Fi connectivity for flights on its A380 Airbus passenger flights.

Recently, the airline kicked off an eight week connectivity trial for its business and passenger-class flights between Australia and the U.S. Quantas contracted services from Inmarsat (News - Alert) SwiftBroadband. OnAir will provide the airline with satellite-based connectivity. Inmarsat and OnAir have enjoyed a business partnership since Dec. 2011.

Like any sensible company, airliners are excited about satellite-based Internet connectivity for passengers because it offers a previously non-existent source of revenue.

Emirates, a Dubai-based airliner primarily serving the Middle East, introduced Wi-Fi in recent months to some degree of success. Despite the success of some companies, several officials have stated that setting up Wi-Fi on a commercial airliner is risky business, financially. The hardware required in order to connect a jet or a plane up to a satellite Internet provider represents a serious expenditure. Making matters worse, you can never be sure how anxious your consumer base will be to pay for a new niche’ technology. Remember Laserdisc?

Although Quantas has not yet released information regarding the price-per-passenger they intend to charge in order to access Wi-Fi, Emirates charges a modest $7.50 for mobile phones and $15 for laptops on their flights. The prices vary because phones receive 32MB worth of bandwidth, while laptops receive a full 100MB through OnAir's (News - Alert) services.

Both the Australian and the Mid-Eastern airlines lag significantly behind Delta on the mid-air Wi-Fi game, as the major airline first began introducing Wi-Fi on its 767 jets back in 2009. Steve Huettel pointed out one of the potential drawbacks to airline Wi-Fi access in the Tampa Bay Times, “If and when mid-air Wi-Fi becomes a norm, employees stand to lose yet another of the few remaining situations in which Sorry, boss, I didn't get your e-mail; I didn't have service still qualifies as a valid excuse.”

Workaholics you can rejoice, while the slackers shake their heads.