Airplane Wi-Fi: It’s A Good Thing

I’ve logged more than a million and a half miles on commercial airplanes. That’s a lot of time to be out of touch with civilization; in recent years, being out of touch has meant being unable to access the internet. Suddenly, though, the long-awaited breakthrough has occurred: you can now get wi-fi on many commercial flights. Here in Minnesota, the dominant carrier is Delta, which recently acquired Northwest. In the last few weeks, I’ve had internet access on every Delta flight I’ve taken. I bought a month’s access for $30; that’s probably eight flights. Earlier tonight, flying home from Denver, I did a post on Eric Holder’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. Like all of my airplane wi-fi experience so far, it worked seamlessly and pretty fast.
Airline wi-fi isn’t for everyone, but if you spend a lot of time on airplanes and feel like you’re more or less on a desert island if you can’t get online, it’s a great option to have. It has business applications too, of course. While you’re in the air, you can email co-workers on the ground to stay in touch both with the office you left behind and the one you are approaching. On the whole, airplane wi-fi is a great idea that is long overdue. It has, of course, the same drawback as the e-reader: you can’t use it while taking off or landing.