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American Airlines has the most expensive Wi-Fi of the US carriers. I know that when I fly domestically, it will always cost me $8 on Alaska, Southwest, or United Airlines. Delta is a bit of a mixed bag, but more often than not it’s free. JetBlue has been free forever. When I fly American, I see rates that will make your eyes water…$15, $19, $35…it’s excessive and uncompetitive. American might have finally gotten the memo as it is about to do a trial run with free Wi-Fi on three routes beginning next week.
The Points Guy reports that passengers flying these routes will see this test (the trial will run in both directions):
- Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) to/from Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU)
- Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to/from Miami International Airport (MIA)
- Jacksonville International Airport (JAX) to/from Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT)
An internal memo with the details said:
Through this test, we’ll be assessing customer take rates for inflight Wi-Fi, evaluating our provider and aircraft capacity, and – perhaps most important – measuring the impact to customer satisfaction via NPS scores.”
American has fallen behind its biggest competitors (Delta and United) and has to do something. Where it used to be ahead of Delta and United with its Viasat Wi-Fi, it’s not as appealing to customers because they have to pay and often overpay. This trial will help American to determine bandwidth needs and evaluate if it is going to roll out free Wi-Fi across the fleet (which it needs to do to stay competitive).
Delta began offering free Wi-Fi on some international flights recently and it expects this to roll out across its entire fleet (including regional jets) in the near future. Passengers on select Viasat-equipped, long-haul international flights will enjoy fast, free Wi-Fi starting now. This moves Delta one step closer to offering complimentary Wi-Fi across its entire global fleet. Today, free, streaming-quality connectivity is available on nearly 700 Delta aircraft, which represents more than 90% of the carrier’s domestic mainline fleet.
United has long been an issue for me when it comes to Wi-Fi. Aside from in-flight dining (which has gotten better), the Wi-Fi has been my biggest gripe. Connecting to the internet has always been a gamble. Wi-Fi works for me about 20% of the time for the entire flight, 50% of the time intermittently, and 30% not at all. That’s about to change. United announced in September that Starlink would be installed on all United aircraft (more than 1,000 planes) over the next few years and that it will be free for MileagePlus members. Last month, it provided an update and now began testing Starlink this month.
American is bleeding customers and it needs to reposition itself. While its CEO has said in the past that Wi-Fi would not be free, he might be changing his tune. Related to this trial, American released the following statement:
With the creation of our new Customer Experience organization led by Chief Customer Officer Heather Garboden, American Airlines is more committed than ever to enhancing every aspect of our customers’ travel journey. Staying connected in the skies is critical to today’s passengers and through this limited-time complimentary Wi-Fi test, we are exploring opportunities to build upon our high-speed Wi-Fi offerings to stay competitive in the industry and give our customers what we know they want.”
Anthony’s Take: American needs to up its game or it will continue to be uncompetitive. This Wi-Fi trial is a start, but it needs to be free, fast, and across the entire fleet soon in order to retain customers.
(Image Credits: American Airlines and United Airlines.)
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