If you spend any amount of time on planes, you probably dread getting aboard any aircraft that doesn’t have Wi-Fi. The good news is, the situation for light business travelers as well as frequent road warriors is improving.
Currently, 52 airlines worldwide offer in-flight Wi-Fi in most regions of the world, according to the Global State of In-flight Wi-Fi report from Routehappy, a product differentiation platform for air travel. Routehappy spells it all out in its Scores & Happiness Factors API, identifying flights based on two factors: the chance of airlines including Wi-Fi and the type of Wi-Fi technology they offer (good, better, and best).
“Wi-Fi is one of the most sought after, new amenities flyers want to access on their flights, and there has been significant investment by airlines since our last report,” said Routehappy CEO Robert Albert. “Coverage is starting to be meaningful on flights worldwide, along with a wide variety of speeds, coverage availability, and pricing models, including free of charge.”
At Least ‘Some’ Chance
So what else does the study reveal? Some of the news is better than others. For example, flyers have at least “some” chance of Wi-Fi on 24 percent of flights worldwide, with U.S. airlines offering at least “some” chance of Wi-Fi on 66 percent of their flights systemwide and non-U.S. airlines offering at least “some” chance on 15 percent of their international flights.
Zeroing in on U.S. airlines, Delta offers the most flights and flight miles with Wi-Fi of all airlines, by far. United has the most international planes with Wi-Fi and uniquely offers “best” Wi-Fi. American/US Airways offers “better” Wi-Fi on its entire Airbus narrowbody fleet, totaling more than 300 aircraft.
Moving overseas, nine non-U.S. airlines now offer at least a “very good” chance of Wi-Fi on more than 20 percent of their international flight miles. Those are Japan, Emirates, Aeroflot, Iberia, Lufthansa, Singapore, Etihad, Norwegian, and Icelandair, with the latter two surpassing 80 percent.
A 179 Percent Increase
Wi-Fi availability is definitely improving. Just 18 months ago, United Airlines offered “some” chance of Wi-Fi on 518 U.S. domestic flights. Today that number sits at 1,445, which is an increase of 179 percent. During that same time, American added 630, Delta added 503, and JetBlue added 386 flights with Wi-Fi. Of course, Wi-Fi is only helpful if your phone battery doesn’t die. Virgin America, Alaska Airlines, and United Airlines lead on offering both Wi-Fi and power on the same flights.
The report reveals the core technology behind in-flight Wi-Fi has also evolved to allow for faster and more reliable connection speeds. Just 18 months ago, U.S. domestic Wi-Fi was mainly provided by the original Gogo air-to-ground network. Wi-Fi is available today via multiple satellite connections, and previously slower-to-adopt domestic airlines have leapfrogged into faster satellite-based connections.
