Southwest Airlines allows Wi-Fi but not VoIP

Although Southwest Airlines is leading the way for cheap internet access in the air, the company has said that VoIP services will be filtered out.

Offering Wi-Fi at $5 per flight (no matter how long you are in the air), Southwest has a good deal as most competitors charge more - anything up to $13 per flight.

In conjunction with Wi-Fi company Row 44, more than 30 airlines will be equipped with internet access and that number is set to double by the end of the year. Southwest hopes that all 550 aircraft of its fleet will have Wi-Fi by 2013.

Passengers should temper their excitement as currently there is no way to know which Southwest flights have Wi-Fi, unless you can see a small spherical cone on the top of the plane (see pic). And they are not offering any seat plugs for recharging purposes.

Furthermore the company is set against in flight VoIP calling at the moment, although the San Francisco Chronicle believes that VoIP will soon be a regular feature of long and short haul flights in America and across the world.

Jetblue Airways already allows customers to use their smartphones for VoIP calling and other features, while Delta has fleet wide Wi-Fi in partnership with Aircell and Gogo.

Southwest Airlines is first to test satellite Wi-Fi technology

However, Southwest will be using different technology than most other U.S. airlines, and that is where the similarity stops.

The Dallas-based company said it will be the first major airline to test satellite technology on commercial aircraft to supply passengers with Wi-Fi Web connectivity. However, cellular services won't work with the system, Southwest warned.

The carrier is teaming up with 'Row 44' and has equipped at least one of its aircraft with the new satellite technology.

Three additional aircraft are scheduled to be equipped next month. The Wi-Fi service will be free to travelers during the test period. As is always the case on commercial aircraft, use of the new technology must be fully approved by the FCC and the FAA.

Overall, Southwest passengers that board a WiFi enabled aircraft will be greeted with placards and instruction sheets. The carrier is also partnering with Yahoo to provide an in-flight homepage with daily programming of local news and various information.

Yahoo's customized homepage will also include a flight tracker where passengers will be able to follow the plane’s path and view points of interest along the travelled route.

Dave Ridley, vice-president of Southwest's marketing division says “as a whole, Internet connectivity has been very high on our list of priorities and for quite some time. We believe the aircraft-to-satellite technology is the most robust solution in the industry, and we look forward to the feedback from our passengers.”

'Row 44' CEO John Guidon added that his company will provide Southwest Airlines with its high-speed WiFi broadband service.

The budget carrier is the first major domestic airline not to sign up with Aircell.

Aircell offers an air-to-ground broadband system that utilizes traditional mobile phone towers. The company owns the spectrum that was previously used by Verizon Wireless’ Airfone division.

American Airlines was the first airline to offer in-flight WiFi Internet access to its customers using Aircell’s Gogo network in August of 2008.

Aircell has since sold new agreements with Virgin America, Air Canada, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.

Aircell is forecasting that about two-thousand commercial aircraft will be equipped with its Gogo Wi-Fi Internet service by the end of 2009.

Airline sorry for 'mortifying' obese man

When it comes to Spirit Airlines’ strike, there’s bad news — and more bad news. First, the bad news: All of the airline’s flight are canceled through Wednesday as the company tries to hammer out an agreement with its pilots union.

And the other bad news? Despite suggestions that it might refund your money if your flight’s canceled, the airline apparently wants to keep all of it. Even if you don’t fly.

In a new release this morning, the company promised grounded passengers either a refund or “future flight credits for customers for the full amount of their unflown flight purchase” plus $100 in future flight credits.

So far, I’m hearing that it’s just offering credit.

Spirit is absolutely allowed to do that. The only mention of a strike in Spirit’s contract of carriage — its legal agreement between you and the airline — is in section 4.8 under “Refusal to Transport”

Spirit may refuse to transport, or remove from any flight, any customer for the following reasons:

4.8.2. Whenever necessary or advisable by reason of weather or other conditions beyond its control (including, without limitation, acts of God, labor disturbances, strikes, civil commotions, embargoes, wars, hostilities, or disturbances) actual, threatened, or reported.