American Airlines Debuts In-Flight Internet

American Airlines has announced in-flight Internet service on selected cross-country flights, powered by Aircell's Gogo service.

Amercian Airlines has announced it is now offering in-flight Internet service on selected cross-country flights, powered by Aircell’s Gogo mobile broadband service. As of today, American is offering the service on 767-200 aircraft flying between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and New York and Miami. The service costs $12.95 on flights more than three hours in duration, and is available to customers in all cabins.

“We are pleased to provide our customers with the unprecedented ability to stay connected to their family, friends, and business associates on the ground via the Internet while traveling at 30,000 feet above the United States,” said American Airlines executive VP of marketing Dan Garton, in a statement. “With today’s launch, American Airlines makes history as the first and only U.S. airline to offer customers full inflight Internet connectivity.”

U.S. air carrier Delta had previously announced plans to roll-out in-flight Internet services—again built on Aircell’s Gogo system—with the first Internet-enabled flights scheduled to get off the ground this fall.

The service operates via Wi-Fi wireless connectivity within the airline cabin, eliminating the need for cabling to individual users, and is available to notebooks, PDAs, and smartphones. Each paid Gogo session includes full Internet access, but VoIP services aren’t available.