Southwest To Offer Wi-Fi Fleetwide

Southwest Airlines will expand its wireless Internet offering fleetwide next year, the company announced today.

The carrier has been testing Wi-Fi on four planes since February. Its service provider, Row 44, this month received a permanent license from the Federal Communications Commission, opening the door for the expansion.

Southwest plans to begin certifying its fleet for the full rollout this fall and then begin installing the service on its planes in the first quarter of 2010. Southwest Airlines senior vice president of marketing and revenue management Dave Ridley said feedback from the initial pilot project was positive.

"We have concluded our testing for inflight Wi-Fi and are very happy with both the technical performance of the system and the response of customers who have used it," he said in a statement. "We are pleased to be continuing with our plans to offer satellite-enabled broadband access through California-based Row 44."

In addition to Southwest, Row 44 also is working with Alaska Airlines on a single-plane pilot project. Competitor AirCell, meanwhile, is working with AirTran Airways, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Virgin America and its newest partner, US Airways. AirTran has completed a fleetwide rollout, and Delta has the service installed on more than 200 planes.