[Travelandtourism] Southwest Testing In-Flight Internet

[ShilohsTravel]

Southwest announced it will begin testing onboard Wi-Fi in early March 
aboard four planes equipped to deliver Internet service to passengers with 
laptops, iPhones, and other Wi-Fi-enabled devices. The testing period will 
last a few months, and passengers can participate in the test program free 
of charge. If and when the service officially goes live, it will be offered 
on a pay-to-use basis, though pricing details are not yet available.

Southwest is also partnering with Yahoo! to create a unique in-flight 
homepage that offers a flight tracker, local news, and photos and facts 
about the places passengers are flying over. The homepage will also include 
information on the flight's destination as well as Yahoo! Games.

Two interesting points leap out of this announcement: First, Southwest is 
intensifying its pursuit of business travelers, which began in earnest with 
the carrier's Business Select fares. Combining in-flight connectivity with 
reasonable fares will surely appeal to businesses, especially those forced 
to reduce their travel budgets, and immediately makes Southwest an obvious 
choice for domestic business travel. Flying out of the Big Apple won't hurt 
either.

But it's also fair to assume Southwest took a look at the competition, saw 
Virgin America and JetBlue testing in-flight Wi-Fi, and decided to act. For 
years, Southwest has enjoyed the luxury of lucrative fuel hedges and full 
planes, and its relatively low fares made up for what many felt was a 
lackluster flying experience. That position of strength, however, has 
evaporated in recent months, and Southwest is no doubt looking for ways to 
remain competitive with its flashier rivals without sacrificing everything 
that's made the carrier successful.

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