August 17, 2006

Wifi Internet in airplanes: it's all gone

Posted at 23:50 | | 6 Comments

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I learn today via Om Malik that all the airlines that chose to adopt Boeing's "broadband in the sky" service (All Nippon Airlines, Japan Airlines, SAS, Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa) will discontinue to offer it to passengers as Boeing decided today to shut down the service and take a $320 million charge...

“Over the last six years, we have invested substantial time, resources and technology in Connexion by Boeing,” said Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney. “Regrettably, the market for this service has not materialized as had been expected. We believe this decision best balances the long-term interests of all parties with a stake in Connexion by Boeing.”

I was one of the first to try it in April 2005, blogging live at 36 000 feet, and I really regret, it was really cool. Now of course with the recent events we won't even be able to board with laptops so the question does not even matter. Too bad.

So now we'll have to take the Airbus to blog. Price of wifi on the airplane should be free, users should be equipped with Wifi connected PMP (rented and sold on board with a "Buy me" sticker) , that's gonna be the killer app..

Anyways, which is the bandwidth and is it 100% safe?

Charbax, August 18, 2006 at 13:31

Just used it 2 days ago on Lufthansa - Airbus A340-600
So not only Boeing aircrafts are affected but also Airbus.

All my next business trips routing have been selected based upon Wifi availability on board. I hope that Star Alliance will quickly find an alternative solution.

Maarten, August 18, 2006 at 14:24

Yep, I think we all have to come back to reading books...

Loic, August 18, 2006 at 18:13

We can now enjoy boring inflight movies and newspapers. Looks like we are heading for the dinosaur age again

colbert, August 19, 2006 at 08:30

Loic: careful with books, they might be the next banned items. After all, books could conceal terrorist intructions!

michel v, August 21, 2006 at 18:02

You forgot Korean Air and El Al Israel Airlines:

http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11250-2317420,00.html

Do we care about the end of in-flight wi-fi?


So Boeing has finally pulled the plug on its onboard wi-fi system Connexion. After six weeks of scrutinising the figures, the company has decided that the numbers simply don’t add up and said it will “exit the high-speed broadband communications connectivity markets”.



Announcing the decision, Boeing chairman, president and chief exec (surely an over-concentration of job titles if there ever was one) Jim McNerney said: “Over the last six years, we have invested substantial time, resources and technology in Connexion by Boeing. Regrettably, the market for this service has not materialised as had been expected.”

Airlines have been slow to sign up for Connexion. Lufthansa, SAS, Japan Airlines, ANA, Singapore Airlines, China Airlines, Korean Air, Asiana Airlines and El Al Israel Airlines were the only ones to start offering the service, although Etihad Airways and Austrian Airlines had signalled their intention to do so in the future. Notable by their absence from this list are the big American airlines and British Airways.

Boeing is now going to have to write off a hefty U$320 million as a result of its decision, some of which will go towards paying early termination payments to its airline customers. That’s an expensive lesson but not one without its precedents. Airlines spent millions installing seatback phones only to find that virtually no-one wanted to use them, in part because the cost was sky-high. I felt the same way about Connexion. Having to pay the best part of fifteen quid to access the internet for the duration of a flight felt expensive, especially as ground based wi-fi prices have been tumbling, often to zero.

Another point is that in-flight wi-fi, and in-flight telephony for that matter, encroaches on what was traditionally downtime. Flights have always been good for catching up on movies and reading. Perhaps we don't really need on-board wi-fi or mobile phones for that matter.

Some airlines insist they will keep broadband on board despite Boeing’s decision. A spokeswoman for Lufthansa, which has the service on 80 per cent of its long-haul services, said: We are confident that Lufthansa FlyNet will be available further on and that our customers are very happy with the broadband connectivity on board.”

But who is going to step in to keep the service going? The other big player in the onboard wireless market, Tenzing, was swallowed up when tech firm SITA set up its OnAir venture with Airbus. OnAir is making very little noise about wi-fi, preferring to talk about mobile telephony. Perhaps 3G will come to be the technology of choice when airborne.




Paul, August 24, 2006 at 02:43

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» Connexion by Boeing and $320M go down the drain from padawan.info
Om Malik reports that Boeing has decided to discontinue its Connexion by Boeing “broadband in the sky” service, and will... [Read More]

Tracked on Aug 18, 2006 5:22:34 PM

» Boeing's Connexion Service Bites the Dust from ITechTips
Loiclemeur reports that Boeing's Wifi in the Sky service Connexion won't be offered anymore and it will be stopped due to escalating costs. Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney said Regrettably, the market for this service has... [Read More]

Tracked on Sep 1, 2006 10:04:06 AM


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