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American Airlines announced on Tuesday that it's joining rival Delta Air Lines in making Wi-Fi Internet connections available to most domestic passengers on more than 300 planes used primarily in the U.S. The announcement accelerates what largely has been a limited service offered by revenue-starved airlines to see whether passengers would pay for the access.
It follows a six-month trial that Dan Garton, American's executive vice president of marketing, said gave customers "the chance to choose to remain connected to work, home or elsewhere when flying," and the airline a chance to study "customers' willingness to take advantage" of it.
American's service will cost laptop users $12.95 on flights longer than three hours, and $9.95 on shorter ones. Travelers using handheld devices, such as smartphones and PDAs, will pay $7.95 no matter the length of the flight.