An American Airways airplane on the runway at Miami Worldwide Airport in Miami, Florida, on Oct. 25, 2024.
Joe Raedle | Getty Photographs
American Airlines plans to supply Wi-Fi totally free beginning in January as extra carriers go for complimentary web service for his or her loyalty program members, rising stress on holdouts.
The free Wi-Fi will probably be sponsored by AT&T and is obtainable for members of American Airways’ AAdvantage loyalty program, the airline stated Tuesday.
American Airways’ inflight Wi-Fi routinely tops $20 per flight. The provider stated that beginning in January, the free service will probably be out there on its planes outfitted with Intelsat and Viasat satellite tv for pc Wi-Fi, which can account for about 90% of its fleet by subsequent yr. A few of American’s older Boeing wide-bodies will not have the service totally free however will nonetheless have Wi-Fi out there.
American Airways had been testing the service on sure routes. It’s also planning to put in high-speed web service on 500 regional planes by the top of subsequent yr, the airline stated.
Southwest Airlines, one of many outliers within the trade, has not stated whether or not it’s contemplating free Wi-Fi on board.
