During 2008, American Airlines and AirCell, LLC will test AirCell’s air-born high-speed broadband connectivity solution. Passengers will be able to use laptops and PDAs with Wi-Fi capability for connection to the internet, VPN access, and e-mail. The for-fee service will be offered in all classes on American’s Boeing 727-200 aircraft, planes mainly used for transcontinental flights. The AirCell system could be installed on the rest of American’s fleet if the test is successful.
“We understand that broadband connectivity is important to our business customers and others who want to use their PDAs and laptops for real-time, inflight broadband communications,” said Dan Garton, American’s Executive Vice President – Marketing.
The test will be the first US use of the new technology. American Airlines was also the first to liberalize policies on cell-phone usage, and was an early user of global satellite phone service on its international routes.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have set strict requirements and issued an exclusive license for the AirCell technology. AirCell will have cell towers across the continental United States to transmit to the three antennas that will be installed on the aircraft.
For reservations on American, the world’s largest airline, visit www.aa.com.
