Mistakes on a Plane?
October 2007
Quick Quips
AirCell, a leading wireless data and voice communications provider, is partnering with American Airlines to bring Wi-Fi to the skies in 2008.
It’s time for that inevitable single-file march, you know the one—your section has just been called; boarding pass in hand, you schlep your laptop and carry-on down the ramp to the bulky metal tube where you’ll be spending the next five hours relaxing with a magazine and a Diet Coke. “Good afternoon,” chime the polished flight attendants. Smiling back, you muse that familiar question: Whom will I be sitting near this time? Please don’t let it be that whiny toddler up ahead. But by next year, the simplicity of an innocent toddler might not seem so bad.AirCell, a leading wireless data and voice communications provider, is partnering with American Airlines to bring Wi-Fi to the skies in 2008. Yup. You’ll be able to check your e-mail, get the latest scores and tap into your office network during the flight. And so will your neighbor. Picture rows upon rows of open laptops, buzzing and beeping with the pitter patter of tiny little fingertips, a mélange of music, a streaming YouTube video of the annual national hotdog eating contest, even—dare we say it—porn?
Mayday! Mayday! Time for that early martini.
Not only that—cell phone reception will also be a new reality inside the itty bitty airtight cabin. Imagine all the phone conversations you’ll be privy to—teenagers ranting about their lame vacations and the parents who dragged them along, the guy behind you recalling his latest Vegas weekend. It’ll be a swelling chorus of “Can you hear me now? How ’bout now?” How about another martini, please.
Even if you’re a proponent of in-flight Wi-Fi access, what about your privacy? According to a study covered by USA Today, 45 percent of business travelers (out of 601 surveyed) admitted to snooping at neighbors’ open laptops in public places. There are filters made to prevent side-snoopers from seeing your screen, but maybe the passenger next to you (or worse, next to the toddler) is watching Rawhead Rex without a filter.
Who’s going to enforce etiquette in the air? Just imagine all that extra stimulation, flashing website features and extraneous chatter. Flight attendants are busy enough fetching your second bag of pretzels to be policing techno-conduct among passengers. According to Tim Wagner, a spokesman from American Airlines, flight attendants will discreetly ask passengers to modify their behavior in the event that there is friction onboard. Ultimately, uncomfortable passengers will be allowed to move to an open seat (provided there is one). There’s nothing like a clumsy game of musical chairs at high altitude to put passengers at ease.
Well, fasten your seatbelt: American Airlines will test the service next year, offering DSL-quality coast-to-coast U.S. coverage (for costs comparable to hotspot-hookups on the ground), with plans to expand service across borders.
