JetBlue Introduces Free In-Flight E-mail

[HardOCP News]

JetBlue has announced that it will offer free in-flight IM and e-mail on its new BetaBlue Airbus A320. Hopefully this is the start of an industry wide trend.

Once this test-bed passenger jet reaches 10,000 feet, an in-plane network with three in-ceiling access points is activated, allowing most any wireless gadget with a Flash-enabled browser to view specialized versions of either Yahoo Messenger or Mail through a universal landing page.

 

[Nomad]

Dear god -- NO!!!!

A flight is the only place on the planet where I don't have to answer email. I can say "I am unavailable - I will be travelling" now and I don't want that to change.

 

[tesfaye]

Dear god -- NO!!!!

A flight is the only place on the planet where I don't have to answer email. I can say "I am unavailable - I will be travelling" now and I don't want that to change.

That and long drives. It's nice to escape from email hell.

 

[Advil]

Un-gobsmacking-believable.

How many years has the FAA told us that electronics that broadcast are terrible on aircraft in flight... and now the want to build wifi transcievers INTO the cabins?

The irony is amazing.

(PS I know they are turning them off during takeoff and landing but it's still like hell freezing over.)

 

[Nick_Leo]

i would never fly with jetblue after that one plane that landed with the sideways front landing gear that got jammed. watching it land on cnn was cool as hell tho.

 

[inotocracy]

Dunno how I feel about flying in a plane that has "beta" in the name

 

[Azhar]

i would never fly with jetblue after that one plane that landed with the sideways front landing gear that got jammed. watching it land on cnn was cool as hell tho.

American Airline has a few planes run into buildings. So?

All planes crashes.

As for the emails, it's nice for long oversea flights, like 26 hour flights from Chicago to Singapore which I used to frequent. I also like it because I'm hearing impaired and the ability to communicate with text on the plane makes me happy

 

[coolie_d]

Un-gobsmacking-believable.

How many years has the FAA told us that electronics that broadcast are terrible on aircraft in flight... and now the want to build wifi transcievers INTO the cabins?

The irony is amazing.

(PS I know they are turning them off during takeoff and landing but it's still like hell freezing over.)

most devices will cause no problems whatsoever; what the FAA is smart enough to be concerned about is those devices that very marginally fall within FCC specs and may cause some slight problems................ the devices that ARE approved by the FAA can be tightly controlled spec-wise...............

 

[NeoNemesis]

Electronics were never bad for aircraft, that was just a safety precaution because it was impossible to test every single phone or electronic device ever built to see if it would mess with a planes instruments. The FAA KNEW cellphones wouldn't bring down planes but if it was wrong for whatever reason they would be up shits creek.

At any rate, given the price of in flight telephones, I seriously doubt they will make this service free. At the very least I'm sure Air Canada will charge $2 every email sent and $.50 per IM.

 

[coolie_d]

cellphone use in-flight would be a billing nightmare for cell providers anyways, so I am sure they lobby against it, too..........

 

[RandomNY]

American Airline has a few planes run into buildings. So?

All planes crashes.

As for the emails, it's nice for long oversea flights, like 26 hour flights from Chicago to Singapore which I used to frequent. I also like it because I'm hearing impaired and the ability to communicate with text on the plane makes me happy

There is a major difference between equiptment failure in the JETBLUE case, and a bunch of islamonazis highjacking a couple of airliners and crashing them on purpose into the TWIN TOWERS...

 

[Azhar]

There is a major difference between equiptment failure in the JETBLUE case, and a bunch of islamonazis highjacking a couple of airliners and crashing them on purpose into the TWIN TOWERS...

Regardless, the passengers will die in either situations. My point is that shit happens anytime, anywhere, whether you like it or not and it should not deter you from flying anyone's plane.

JetBlue doesn't make the planes. They just fly it.

 

[JOESKURTU]

i would never fly with jetblue after that one plane that landed with the sideways front landing gear that got jammed. watching it land on cnn was cool as hell tho.

Why not? Everyone on that flight was safe and sound. The highly skilled and well trained pilots were able to safely land even though there was a problem.

That to me is a good reason to want to fly Jet Blue.

On topic: Has Hell froze over? I thought the FAA was against electronic devices on airplanes. I have seen A-holes who turn on their cell phones as soon as they get service wether or not the plane is on the ground. I thought the critical instruments were shielded anyways.

 

[RoffleCopter]

Free DirecTV and Email and cheap tickets to boot?

JetBlue needs to do international flights