Delta Adds Wi-Fi To U.S. Flights

Delta Air Lines launched Wi-Fi in-flight service on six planes Tuesday in a preview of its plan to feature the wireless access service on all of its 330-jet domestic fleet next year.

Aircell's Gogo service is available on shuttle flights among Washington, New York, and Boston airports.

And, in another example of the spread of Wi-Fi for short trips, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority announced this week that it will expand a Wi-Fi pilot project from selected trains to include some coaches on all the MBTA commuter routes.

Wi-Fi service has been introduced in fits and starts in recent years, and most U.S. domestic airlines are now launching the service. However, phoning capability via VoIP will be blocked in accordance with government regulations, which reflect the wishes of U.S. passengers not to be bothered by fellow passengers chatting away. Pornography sites will also be blocked.

"In-flight Internet access is one of the most popular requests we receive from our customers," said Tim Mapes, Delta's senior VP of marketing, in a statement. "Next year when Gogo is available on our entire domestic mainline fleet, our customers will have access to the most extensive Wi-Fi network in the sky."

The service will be available for free until Dec. 31. After that, it will be available for $9.95 on flights less than three hours and for $12.95 on longer flights. Delta and Aircell are deploying the service rapidly and expect to have Delta's entire fleet outfitted with the Wi-Fi service during 2009.

Aircell also has inaugurated Wi-Fi service with American Airlines and Virgin America. Another in-flight wireless access service, offered by Row 44, is being deployed in other airlines.

In-flight service has had a bumpy ride for years and the first major effort -- Boeing's Connexion service -- was abandoned after the aircraft builder spent a reported $1 billion on it. The situation is different in Europe where OnAir has been offering in-flight wireless access over cell phones. To date, the European airlines haven't encountered the fierce resistance to talking while flying that's prevalent among U.S. passengers.

In Massachusetts, the transportation authority, too, is committed to rolling out Wi-Fi quickly on the MBTA's network of commuter routes. The MBTA plans to outfit 30 coaches a month with the service until 258 of its 410 coaches have the service, which is free.