How Alaska Airlines Is Getting a Leg Up On the Competition |
Posted: October 23, 2017 |
Anyone who has ever used Wifi on a plane knows that it leaves something to be desired in terms of speed. Alaska Airlines is about to change that. The airline recently announced it would be upgrading to satellite internet. Traditionally airlines rely on a system that uses towers on the ground to relay internet signals in-flight, which impacts the quality of the access. The new system Alaska is moving to will not only be faster but also work outside of the United States.
Better and FasterThe new internet will be 20 times quicker than the current system and work on flights to places like Costa Rica, Mexico, and Hawaii. Airlines currently use an air-to-ground system. This means that a plane must reach 10,000 feet before the internet is active. Satellite WiFi has no such requirement. It will work on the runway. So when planes are forced to sit on the runway due to traffic or other issues, passengers will be allowed to check their email and get things done.
Goodbye Go-Go Inflight Alaska utilizes Go-Go Inflight to provide their current internet. The company also services Delta, Aeromexico, American, and British Airways just to name a few. The aforementioned companies have already made the switch to Go-Go Satellite service and Alaska Airlines will be the latest to join their ranks.
Alaska’s Internet History This is not the first time Alaska Airlines has sought to upgrade the internet access in its fleet. Back in 2015, they invested money to put the Go-Go ATG-4 Wi-Fi system in place. At that time, the upgrade gave customers over 3 times the speed boost going from 3.1Mbps to 9.8Mbps.
Faster and Cheaper The other thing that anyone who has flown recently knows is that in-flight internet is not exactly cheap. Those who plan ahead can purchase passes from Go-Go’s website ahead of time for a discount. But the standard price for a flight filled with the internet is about $16 per day. Thanks to this new internet service, the price may drop a little bit. The exact price will be announced at a date in the near future. It should be lower though.
StreamingIn addition to price and speed, in-flight internet has traditionally not been fast enough. Alaska will be changing that. Go-Go’s latest system is also referred to as 2ku and it will be fast enough to watch Netflix or Hulu. This is excellent news for passengers on longer flights who want to squeeze some binge-watching in on the plane.
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