Congrats to US Airways for striking up a deal with Aircell to deploy Gogo on their fleet of 50 A321 aeroplanes.

Condolences to the hard working folks who will have to wait until 2010 to use the in-flight Wi-Fi service.

Whether we realize it or not, there’s a race going on in the skies above us. With the advent of wireless Internet access creeping into what once our sanctuary of solitude at 37,000 feet has now become a domain for self-righteous dingbats to livestream their flights for all to see.

Leading the way is Virgin America who announced today that they are the first airline in all the land to offer Aircell’s Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi service on every single flight. To mark the occasion an air-to-ground Skype video call will take place with thee Oprah Winfrey herself and will air on Thursday the 21st. VoIP calls aren’t allowed on any Virgin America flight, but, you know, you can’t say no to Oprah or she’ll eat you.

Pricing for Gogo on Virgin America flights start at $7.95 for handheld devices, $9.95 for flights less than three hours and $12.95 for anything over. If you’re on a red-eye then need only muster up $5.95, which is a steal for those on transcon flights.

Today in Baltimore, I think, AirTran announced that it would become the first fleet in the US to have Wi-Fi on every flight. Equipped with Aircell’s Gogo service, AirTran will outfit all 136 Boeing 737 and 717s by mid-summer. No word on pricing, but we expect them to fall in line with what Virgin America and American Air charge. That is all.

Aircell and American Airlines have just announced that the domestic carrier will continue to deploy Gogo throughout 300 planes in the next two years. Starting this year, AA will outfit 150 MD-80 aircrafts followed by Boeing 737-800s. Gogo is currently available on non-stop AA flights originating from JFK to SFO, LAX and MIA. Flights longer than three hours cost $13 while flights shorter than that cost $10 and there’s a mobile device plan for $8. That is all.

Come chat with me on Ustream on my Virgin America flight and watch people walk by! I’ll be turning on my camera every hour or so and I’ll be chatting live from 35,000 feet.

I’ll also be IMing with Virgin America’s IFE engineer James Weatherson around 6PM PT today and I’ll post a transcript. He’s in charge of the Red entertainment system on-board all VA flights and we’ll find out what we can expect to see from the in-flight entertainment system this year.

If you have any questions you’d like me to ask him, feel free to leave a comment.

Update: If you feel like chatting on AIM then hit me up at crunchtips, kids.

Update 2: James wasn’t able to join us, so we’re going off the air. We’ll update if he manages to get online. Otherwise, we’ll have an in-person interview later this week.

Virgin America

Alaska Airlines has announced that they’ve started testing Row 44’s satellite-based Wi-Fi service on a handful of Boeing 737-700s. The first trial flight will take place between Seattle and San Jose (leaves Seattle at 2:20 PT today and returns on Flight 329 from San Jose back to Seattle) and the service will be free for 60 days. After today that aircraft will shift routes, which includes anything going up and down the West Coast and Alaska. No exact date has been attached to the trial (but I would assume it’s today or sometime this week) and pricing hasn’t been set, but I’d imagine it’s close to what VA or AA is charging for Aircell’s Gogo service.

SEATTLE — Alaska Airlines today will launch a customer trial of its new satellite-based wireless Internet service. Named Alaska Airlines Inflight Wi-Fi, the service can be used inflight on any Wi-Fi enabled device such as a laptop, smartphone or portable media player.
Onboard Alaska Airlines’ specially-equipped Boeing 737-700 passengers will now be able to engage in a range of activities including browsing the Web; accessing online music, games, podcasts and webcasts; sending and receiving e-mail; and connecting to Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). The service will be free at the start of the trial, which is scheduled to begin on an afternoon flight between Seattle and San Jose, Calif., and will run for about 60 days. After a successful trial period, the airline will determine the schedule for rolling out the commercial availability of its wireless Internet service to its entire fleet of aircraft.
“We’re thrilled to be able to offer our passengers a way to stay connected to what matters most to them while en route to their destinations,” said Steve Jarvis, Alaska’s vice president of marketing, sales and customer experience. “This is a service that everyone can use, whether it’s for business or entertainment. Our service gives passengers a choice in how they spend their time while traveling and enhances the inflight experience.”
Alaska Airlines and Row 44 have cooperated for more than two years to bring this service to market. “Alaska Airlines continues its long track record of deploying innovative technologies,” said John Guidon, CEO for Row 44. “We are proud to be associated with their team and thrilled that such a forward-thinking airline selected Row 44’s inflight satellite broadband service.”
The airline conducted extensive ground and inflight tests of the technology prior to the launch of the service trial to ensure the system does not interfere with aircraft navigation equipment. In addition, the aircraft equipment has received complete airworthiness certification from the Federal Aviation Administration. The service is being offered on a trial basis and has not yet received final Federal Communications Commission approval.
As Henry Harteveldt, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research said in a recent article entitled “Online on High” on CNN.com, “I expect there to be two groups of airlines: those that have announced plans to have Internet access and those that will wonder why they have lost passengers.”

Internet for everyone
Alaska Airlines Inflight Wi-Fi works with a broad range of Wi-Fi-enabled devices and will allow business and leisure travelers the convenience of a high-speed network comparable to their office or home connection. The Inflight Wi-Fi splash page contains live news, music, shopping and links to practical services on Alaska’s award-winning Web site, alaskaair.com. Additionally, passengers can:

* Browse the Web
* Access online music, games, podcasts, webcasts, etc.
* Instant message friends, family and colleagues
* Send and receive e-mail
* Access corporate networks via VPN

Alaska has long pioneered technology to improve the customer experience. The airline was the first in North America to sell tickets online in 1995 and, four years later, was the first carrier worldwide to offer Internet check-in and boarding passes.

Pricing and availability
Final pricing for the service has not been determined. The airline plans to use customer feedback to design a flexible pricing structure that will be affordable and competitive with other services in the industry.

Virgin America, my favorite domestic airline, is launching service to and from Boston today with three daily routes from LA and two daily routes from San Francisco. This is important for those traveling between Boston and California because all flights to and from Boston are equipped with Aircell’s Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi service.

In anticipation of the Boston launch, Virgin America asked Boston residents to nominate a non-profit agency in the area that was doing good and changing things for the better. And tonight in Boston, Sir Richard Branson will donate $25,000 on behalf of Virgin Unite (the non-profit foundation of the Virgin Group).

Virgin America’s and Virgin Unite’s selected non-profits:
v Green for All is committed to building a green economy that will help lift people out of poverty. The group focuses on connecting underserved communities to the emerging green economy through job creation and training, including projects in New Bedford. http://www.greenforall.org/

v KIPP Academy Lynn is a free public middle school modeled on the nationally recognized, tested and proven Knowledge is Power Program, a network of not-for-profit charter schools that prepares underserved kids for college. Virgin America has been a KIPP partner since 2007. http://www.kipplynn.org/about.php

v StandUp For Kids, Boston is a national all volunteer non-profit that has been active for 19 years, and works in the Boston area to get kids off the streets and to make a difference in the lives of at-risk and homeless youth. http://www.standupforkids.org/local/massachusetts/Boston

The top voted “revolutionary” non-profit on www.revolutiontakesflight.com:
v The Friendship Circle of Sharon teams up teens with special needs children. Now in its 15th year, the non-profit is powered by hundreds of teens who volunteer their time to engage special needs children in a wide range of activities and to provide their parents with respite and support. http://www.sharonfriends.org/

The runner-up in the popular vote was Boston Medical Center’s pediatric at-risk unit, the SPARK Center, which offers comprehensive, state-of-the-art medical care for Boston’s most at-risk children. www.bmc.org/spark

The following aircrafts are Wi-Fi-enabled:

638
529
530
521
522
526
629
525
527

Also, here’s video from the Boston press conference…

United has signed on with Aircell to bring the Internets to the skies making it harder for us to have some peace and quiet on those transcon flights. They now join Air Canada, American Airlines, Delta and Virgin America. In what appears to be the norm for these Wi-Fi equipped flights, you can expect to have service on flights from New York’s JFK to SFO and LAX. All 13 Boeing 757s in the United stable will be Internet ready in the second half of this year. United is offering the service to all cabins at a flat rate of $12.95.

Our buds over at Jaunted just gave us the heads up that Virgin America will begin rolling out Aircell’s Gogo service, which we reviewed back in August, on November 22. The “beta” flight will take off from SFO, VA’s HQ, to JFK. Virgin plans to roll out the in-flight broadband service on one plane per week with a full rollout scheduled by March 2009. Oh, and they won’t be filtering the service either. The RED system will eventually be wired in as well, but we won’t see that happen until later on in 2009.

Canadian travelers will soon be able to emulate their favorite CrunchGear blogger, Peter Ha, as they glom on to Aircell’s Gogo wireless internet service aboard their next international Air Canada flight. You’ll recall that Sweet Pete recently blogged from 37,000 feet using Gogo service aboard American Airlines. What fun we all had!

You’ll have to wait until at least spring of 2009, as that’s when Air Canada hopes to start rolling out the service on its fleet of Airbus A319 airplanes that fly between Canada and the United States.

Aircell released this statement regarding the situation because everyone and their mother is all aflutter about it in the tech space of the Interwebs.

It is against American’s policy and Gogo’s terms of service to use VoIP. Aircell has multiple protocols and practices in place to prevent the use of VoIP. Obviously, it is extremely difficult to stop every instance of VoIP but Aircell is monitoring and working constantly to enforce American’s policy and Gogo’s terms of service.

This is American Airline’s policy not to allow VoIP and Aircell does their best to abide by those rules, which is why it’s stated in the agreement you check off on when purchasing the service. If you violate those terms then you should have your service cut off, but Aircell doesn’t plan on doing that. They want you to enjoy the service with one caveat. It might be something they should seriously think about for those striving to be the asshole on the plane, though. Get drunk. Snore. Just don’t babytalk with your signif, tell your frat bro how hot the chick you banged last night was (this goes both ways, ladies), yell at your intern/co-workers or read your kid a bedtime story. Need to converse with someone that bad, do you? Then try emailing or IM. Emoticons can go a long way. You’re making an otherwise great service a real stinker in the minds of everyone else, jerk.

Oh, and what’s this about airlines trying to protect revenue streams from those Airphones? Yeah, those Airphones have been useless for years. Aircell swooped the spectrum that Verizon used for the service in 2006 in an FCC auction. They’re relics of the past and indicators that the plane you’re currently occupying is very old.

So, VoIP on Aircell’s Gogo service. Yeah, you can do it, but you should really get over it and just watch your damned reruns on Hulu or fancast and STFU.

I know Mossberg ‘reviewed’ the service a while back, but he was on the plane by himself with a cornucopia of devices. That’s not a real world situation. I was skeptical of the whole thing like most of you were, but after yesterday I’m completely sold. It’s not earth shattering or anything. I mean, it’s only Wi-Fi on a plane, but it’s finally here and better than expected.

Let’s start with the good. Getting yourself set up is super easy, but there is one caveat. Managing your Gogo account from a mobile device is limited and you’ll need a laptop to get everything up and running. It’s also not really worth it to pay $13 if you’re only going to be using your BlackBerry, iPhone or Windows Mobile device, but I digress. Setup is simple, but if you do run into some problems there is a 24-hour help desk that’s available to you via IM regardless of whether or not you’re connected. I actually used it yesterday and they got me squared away in a matter of minutes. Also, for the next month or two there will be Gogo reps from Aircell wearing mint green polos on board to help customers out. After that there will be telephone CSRs at your beck and call.

How are the speeds? Well, I was averaging download speeds of 1,491 kbps while IMing and browsing the Web with occasional updates to my post. I didn’t really notice any sort of slow down until I started streaming multiple video streams. Of course, this all depends on how many other passengers are using the service. Aircell manages the bandwidth based on what you’re doing. If you’re being a bandwidth hog by downloading a huge file or watching multiple video streams then you get put at the back of the line. Your service doesn’t get cut off, but you will notice a slow down. But if you’re on a red eye and no one is using it then you’re taking full advantage without any backlash. My outbound flight from JFK had a few more users than my flight back from LAX, but everything was pretty smooth.

We’ve all been wondering about VoIP and whether or not it will work. I couldn’t get any Skype calls to work, but I did manage to make a phone call over UMA on my T-Mobile BlackBerry Curve to my brother in NYC. The call lasted a minute and five seconds before I ended it to call my brother back and leave a voicemail on his machine, so that I’d have a wav file to post on the site. Aircell caught on and jammed it the next time around. All I could hear were digital noises reminiscent of a fax machine. So VoIP calls do and don’t work. It’s more or less luck of the draw until Aircell is able to put a clamp on everything and anything VoIP related. If a clever hacker were able to make VoIP calls on a consistent basis an airline representative will come over and scold you. Also, I was able to send and receive SMS/MMS over UMA on my BlackBerry.

Having Wi-Fi on my BlackBerry, iPhone 3G and Windows Mobile device worked just as it normally does. Nothing special here, so I won’t go into it.

Aircell does have a command center that’s monitoring activity, so they’ll know if you’re hacking the system to make VoIP calls, downloading ginormous files, etc., but they’re not spying on you by any means. Whatever is within their legal rights is all. Exactly what sort of repercussions is unknown for those making VoIP calls. Just don’t do it, I say. What’s the point? (Totally rhetorical – BTW)
I was a tad too sheepish to try, but there is no filtering since you’re paying for the service but you can get your porn fix if you’re going through withdrawals. It’s just a matter of decency and respect for your surrounding neighbors.

If there was ever a case where the flight crew deemed it necessary to cut off all Gogo services they can do that instantaneously. Aircell also provides the airline staff with air to ground communications, Internet, phone, avionics and other services that are separate from the Gogo service.
Switching service between devices is relatively easy. You simply need to log off before logging in from another device. Just be sure to do it before the device you’re on dies.

Well, I think that just about covers all the good stuff. Let’s rap about the negatives, but there aren’t very many.

First, I wasn’t aware that AA only had cigarette adapters. Had I known that I probably would have ran to the Apple store to find one. But that’s not a knock against Aircell. However, it did deter from the entire experience. So remember to bring your adapaters!

UMA was spotty on my BlackBerry and it’s something that Aircell is aware of, so they’ll hopefully have it resolved in the near future. But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t able to send/receive e-mails BB messages or surf the Web. I just wasn’t able to send and receive SMS/MMS when UMA wasn’t active.
Overall, I give Aircell’s Gogo service two thumbs up. It worked as advertised and while the entire flight wasn’t using the service, I think enough folks were using it to see how my bandwidth was affected and what certain activities did to my own bandwidth. As I said before, I noticed very little drops in speed for simple Web browsing and chatting.

Is it worth the $13? That’s your call, but it sure comes in handy on transcontinental flights that serve up horrible in-flight entertainment and it makes the time fly. Unless, of course, you’re flying Virgin America and have access to RED. Once Gogo rolls out on VA they’ll be undoubtedly the best airline for entertainment and service. But kudos to American Airlines for having the cojones to roll this service out first.

The flight is full from what I’m told and Aircell had plenty of people on hand at the gate to promote the service. Exactly how many folks will utilize the service is unknown at this point. I’ll be using my MacBook Pro, iPhone 3G and T-Mobile BlackBerry Curve along with one other smartphone that’s Wi-Fi enabled. I’m in economy so it’s going to be a tight squeeze. Hopefully the lady sitting in front of me won’t lean her seat back, but that’s doubtful. I’ve already got my laptop on my lap as is and it’s not pleasant. I wish one of the manufacturers who I requested a sub-notebook/netbook from had gotten back to me. I’m looking at you Lenovo, HP, Asus, MSI and Dell.

The service unavailable splash screen reveals that Gogo won’t work below 10,000 feet and is only available within the continental U.S. I will individually test all my devices and then simultaneously to see what sort of bandwidth I’m getting.

Speed tests after the jump.

So far Speedtest.net is giving me 1,748 kbps down and roughly 290kbps up.

Another test reveals similar results.

This one’s not so good.

One more test on the laptop and I’ll start testing my iPhone 3G and BlackBerry Curve.

So far so good, folks. The aircrafts are 767s and not 727s. If you’re on a flight for more than three hours than I think $13 is worth it. The only caveat here is that American Airlines only supports cigarette lighter adapters, so I’m screwed in about an hour when my battery dies. FastMac was supposed to send me an extended battery weeks ago, but they’ve failed to do so. Virgin America on the other hand has normal outlets.

I just tried out the service on my iPhone 3G and it worked well. You have to sign off from each device to export the service to another. It’s a pain, but there for a reason. I’ll get video or time how long it takes to download an app from the app store.

I’m currently on Skype, AIM, and MSN messenger. I tried calling someone over VoIP on Skype but it dropped after five seconds. Service has been good so far. There were a few spots where the connection was sluggish, but otherwise it’s been rock solid.

I’m currently watching Doug’s review on YouTube and there’s no lag for a five-minute video.

One clever IMer just asked me:

and here’s a question, feel free to write about it, if you were to commit a crime, lets say hack something stupid via the wi-fi on flight, where would they extradite you to?

We’ll get the answer soon. Also, I know you’re all wondering how they’re blocking VoIP calls. We’ll have that answer soon.

Oh great! The f*cking stewardess flight attendant just spilled water on my laptop!

VoIP calls are sort of going through, but nothing can be heard on either end. Former CG editor Josh Goldman just tried calling said they heard some sort of “digital tune.”

My laptop is going dark in less than 10, so I’m switching to iPhone 3G and/or BlackBerry Curve.

I’ll be back shortly, folks. Leave you questions in comments and I’ll do my best to get them answered.

4:18PM EST – Switched from my dead laptop to my BB. The switchover was easy but I didn’t get a connection for a few minutes. E-mail, browser and BB messenger are all working flawlessly.

To answer your question about VoIP calls I just spoke with Jack Blumenstein, the president and ceo of Aircell. They’ve restricted the packets that enable voip calls but clearly haven’t blocked skype altogether. Connections can be made that may or may not last a few seconds but the audio then becomes garbled.

Just made a call over UMA on my BlackBerry to my brother and it went through. Lasted about a minute. Will get a wav file to post on the site.

The connection is now garbled.

To all the commenters who are telling me to plug in: All outlets need cig lighter adapters. Feh.
5:06PM EST – Update: blackberry uma connection is spotty
Aircell’s tech guy had his nokia n810 and it was running fine
He said bb’s UMA is a problem and they’re working to resolve it now
Also, any winmo device with wifi will work regardless regardless of the devices listed on the gogo site

Cool. Gogo service automatically shuts off when it goes below 10k feet

6:03PM EST – Brief layover in LAX before jumping on a flight back. Leave questions in comments.

6:31PM EST – Bandwidth is prioritized, so if you’re juicing the network by watching video or downloading then your connection gets slower but it won’t stop and other passenger won’t be affected.

One passenger was watching basebll games through sling on the outbound flight.

Just left LAX and I’m back online. I have roughly one hour of laptop juice left, so please feel free to leave a comment or AIM me at crunchtips.

Going to watch some video on fancast and see what it does to my bandwidth.

7:40PM EDT
Currently watching this episode of Family Guy. Bandwidth is holding steady. Guess there aren’t too many people using Gogo right now.

7:42PM EDT
RE: VPN. Folks from Aircell are telling me that it’s up to your IT department based on how strong the Wi-Fi connection needs to be. I know a couple AA execs were connected over VPN on the outbound flight from JFK to LAX.

Do you guys want to know anything else?

[Devin says: Peter and I played this little fridge magnet game. Worked fine, so no upstream issues.]

Facebook chatting with the boss, MA, now.

Just ran four fancast streams and bandwidth went down a bit.

Running three Hulu streams with no noticeable lag on any of the streams. Trying to Bit Torrent, but I’ve got zilch going down or up.

Spoke too soon. My streams are getting choppy.

8:15PM EDT
I have roughly 15 minutes left of juice on my laptop. Better get your questions in now.

8:17PM EDT
Torrenting a 233MB file now with download speeds ranging from 0B/s to 3.1Kbps with nothing uploading.

8:25PM EDT
Well, that’s it for me, folks. My laptop is about to kick the can, so I’ll be switching over to my BlackBerry/iPhone 3G for the remainder of the flight. Feel free to email me at peter at crunchgear dot com with any questions and I’ll do my best to get them answered.

FORT WORTH, Texas and ITASCA, Ill. – Marking the beginning of the next wireless revolution, American Airlines made history today with the launch of the mobile broadband service, Gogo(tm) provided by Aircell®.

Effective today, customers traveling on American’s Boeing 767-200 aircraft can access complete coast-to-coast coverage on nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and New York and Miami. American, the world’s largest airline and founding member of the oneworld® Alliance, and Aircell, the world’s leading provider of airborne communications, have joined together to bring the first full inflight broadband service to the U.S. market.

“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 Dan Garton, American’s Executive Vice President – Marketing. “With today’s launch, American Airlines makes history as the first and only U.S. airline to offer customers full inflight Internet connectivity, demonstrating once again our industry leadership and focus on our customers.”

Aircell’s Gogo will be available to customers as a fee-based service in all cabins. Aircell will charge $12.95 on flights more than three hours, which include American’s Boeing 767-200 flights. Each paid Gogo session includes full Internet access. Cell phone and Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) services are not available.

Gogo turns an American Airlines flight into a Wi-Fi hotspot, enabling passengers to surf the Web, check any email, Instant Message, access a corporate VPN, and more. Once the aircraft has reached 10,000 feet, users can simply turn on their Wi-Fi enabled devices such as laptops, smartphones and PDAs, open their browsers and be directed to the Gogo portal page where they sign up and begin surfing. Gogo is powered by the Aircell air-to-ground (ATG) Broadband System, which runs over Aircell’s exclusive nationwide network.

“Today, U.S. air travel changes forever. With Aircell’s unique ATG inflight Internet service, airlines finally have an economically viable option for providing the broadband connectivity passengers are demanding,” said Jack Blumenstein, President and CEO, Aircell. “American Airlines is the first to bring inflight Internet to market, and today the days of being cut off from the rest of the world while in the air become history.”

This is certainly big news and it’s coming from an airline that’s been hampered with bankruptcy problems in recent years, but things are looking up for Delta. In April they announced that NW Airlines would be absorbed into the fold to become the world’s largest carrier and today they’ve announced that their entire domestic fleet will offer broadband Wi-Fi by the end of 2009.

The first half of 2009 will see 133 of Delta’s MD88/90 flying contraptions outfitted with the service with another 200 Boeing 737, 757 and 767-300s to follow suit. Delta hopes to have more than 330 airplanes equipped to provide the Wi-Fi service by the end of 2009.

GoGo will cost Delta flyers $9.95 on flights of three hours or less, and $12.95 for flights that are longer than three hours.

American Airlines is quite possibly the most horrendous airline on the face of the planet. I’m waiting for my flight to LA at Gate 12 in JFK. I was supposed to leave at 7:15 ET, but it’s been pushed out to 7:50 ET. So feel free to swing by and say hello and possibly buy me a beer. Although, I don’t see a bar anywhere around. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that my flight has Aircell’s GoGo service.

Big ups to Samsung for providing me with a Mobile Charging Station!

*Why am I not taking Virgin America?*