American Airlines To Test In-Flight Broadband in 2008

One of the worst things about taking a plane ride anywhere is that you just can't count on good, fast internet access. Well, that's about to change, according to American Airlines, who plans on testing in-flight broandband access in 2008.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline will conduct the test on its 15 Boeing 767-200 aircraft that fly transcontinental routes, making it one of the first domestic carriers to offer passengers broadband service.

The carrier will consider rolling it out to the rest of the fleet if the test is successful, says company spokesman Charley Wilson. "We're at the point now where we feel like it's worth testing," says Wilson. "We recognize that it helps us to be more competitive."

The fee-based service will provide passengers with wireless Internet connections for laptops, smart phones and other personal digital assistants equipped with Wi-Fi antennas.

The company will block internet telephony, but other than that, at least passengers will be able to surf the web and do everything they're accustomed to do while on the ground. For the millions of wired workers out there, this is bound to be a huge hit. Pricing is not determined yet, but Jack Blumenstein, CEO of AirCell, who will actually be the ISP, said that it will be a bit more expensive than Starbuck's hotspot service, which runs at $10 daily.