demain : le Wifi en vol sur American Airlines (aux USA)

[flyrelax]

on y arrive....

American Airlines And Aircell Begin Broadband Connectivity Installation
Source: American Airlines 22/01/2008

American’s Kansas City Maintenance Base Completes First of 15 Aircraft Installations for Real-Time, Internet Broadband Connectivity

American Airlines and Aircell collaborate on the first installation of Aircell’s Internet broadband connectivity solution at American’s Kansas City maintenance facility. American will install and test the technology in 2008 on all 15 of its Boeing 767-200 aircraft.

American Airlines, leading the way in customer experience initiatives, has completed the first aircraft installation of the Aircell ® Internet broadband connectivity solution at American’s Kansas City maintenance base. American, which will be the first U.S. airline to offer customers Aircell’s Internet broadband solution, plans to install and test the technology in 2008 on all 15 of its Boeing 767-200 aircraft that primarily fly transcontinental routes.

“There’s a tremendous amount of intrigue and appeal for travelers to be able to utilize the Internet when traveling 30,000 feet above the United States at 500 miles per hour,” said Dan Garton, American’s Executive Vice President – Marketing. “Connectivity is important to our business customers and those who want to use their PDAs and laptops for real-time, full-service, inflight, broadband Internet, e-mail and VPN. With this test of Aircell’s technology, American Airlines is demonstrating our commitment to enhancing the travel experience for our customers and meeting their evolving needs when it comes to connectivity and communications.”

Prior to customer use, the first aircraft featuring Aircell’s broadband Internet service will begin flying for rigorous systems and beta testing pending certifications from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Aircell’s exclusive air-to-ground broadband system will provide customers with an Internet connection, VPN (virtual private network) access, and e-mail capabilities through all Wi-Fi-enabled laptops, PDAs and portable gaming devices. Customers will experience speeds similar to wireless, mobile, broadband services on the ground. The Aircell system is designed to provide full data service – cell phone and Voice Over IP (Internet Protocol) services will not be available.

“American Airlines is an industry leader and innovator in customer services,” said Jack Blumenstein, CEO & President, Aircell, LLC. “Aircell is delighted to partner with American to provide flyers with a full, inflight, Internet connectivity experience.”

Aircell’s broadband service will also provide: * Complimentary access to AA.com including services such as gates and times, fares and AAdvantage information, * Access to the Wall Street Journal Digest Edition, * Compatibility with VPNs that provide access to corporate intranets and email accounts, * And seamless coverage over the continental U.S. above 10,000 feet.

Aircell will offer the connectivity solution to American Airlines customers in all classes of service on the B767-200 aircraft for a fee. Pending successful connectivity trials on B767 aircraft, American could extend Aircell’s inflight broadband service to the remainder of its domestic fleet.

Aircell’s air-to-ground inflight Internet system for commercial aircraft uses three lightweight antennae installed on the outside of the aircraft. One antenna, the PCS/GPS antenna, is mounted on the top of the aircraft, and the other two antennae are mounted to the bottom of the aircraft. Customers access the broadband signal using their own Wi-Fi enabled devices, which communicate directly with wireless access points that are distributed evenly throughout the aircraft cabin ceiling. The signal will be transmitted through the 3mhz signal from air to ground using 92 cellular towers throughout the continental United States.

The installation work of Aircell’s equipment will be performed by American’s mechanics, represented by the Transport Workers Union. American, a founding member of the onewold® Alliance, conducts nearly 90 percent of its own maintenance work in-house and provides maintenance for other aviation and aerospace companies as well.

[Luc Lion]

Ca c'est bizarre :

The signal will be transmitted through the 3mhz signal from air to ground using 92 cellular towers throughout the continental United States.

Ou bien c'est une coquille, ou bien on peut leur prédire des clients mécontents avant même qu'ils fassent leur tests.
Cela représente une bande passante de 750kb/s à tout casser, 5kB/s par client s'ils ont 20 clients dans l'avion, moins qu'un modem analogique.

[opslady]

C'est pire que l'Afrique, patron!

[Arcimboldo]

Bonjour à tous.

Vous les pros de l'aviation commerciale actuelle, plus de 3 années après ce dernier post de notre chère OpsLady, qu'en est-il de cette connexion wi-fi en vol ?

Stand by ? En instance d'installation ? Arrêt complet vu le risque en vol (si risque il y a) ?

Est-ce que DSK aurait pu utiliser ce système s'il n'avait pas été débarqué du tagazou d'AF ce matin ?

Au fait, le tagazou en question, un Boeing ou un Airbus ? C'est peut-être important pour la suite des évènements.

Non ! ? ! ?

Ah ok, je

Bien cordialement à tous et bise aux dames.

[opslady]

Salut Arcimboldo.
Mr. DSK a "quitte" un Boeing 777.

Drole, je viens de lire un article cette semaine, (Chicago Tribune sur papier) qui repond un peu a ta question.

American est alle plus loin. La compagnie a lance, il y a 2 mois, un test sur 2 gros porteurs
pour un nouveau system de "streaming video"; soit, on ne sera plus oblige de choisir parmi
les films video offerts par AAL. On pourra faire un choix de la bibliotheque de bord
et regarder le film sur son propre laptop ou autre appareil.
Si ca marche, AA sera la premiere compagnie domestique a fournir ce service sur tous les avions
equipes WiFi (soit, oui, AA a reussi cet essai de WiFi en vol). En ce moment, ils ont 208 avions
equipes, et esperent finir par equiper 382 avions.
Ils esperent que le "streaming video" sera rentable. Si la moitie des pax payait $4.00 pour ce divertissement en vol,
AAL gagnerait $1 billion de plus par an. C'est une possibilite, tant que ca coute environ ce que paie le passager chez lui
pour ce meme service.

[biogazz]

Recemment, chez alaskan:

"We have WIFI on almost all of our airplanes now, but access to WIFI is not allowed at this time -- pending resolution of an issue with WIFI use blanking display screens in the flight deck."

Ca n'a pas l'air tout a fait au point, encore...