Airlines take another look at inflight Internet
Airlines and service providers seeking to deliver high-speed Internet services to passengers say they’ve learned from Boeing Co.’s 2006 decision to pull the plug on its ambitions to outfit its planes with a similar service. Boeing, which did not disclose how much it invested in the service, took a pretax accounting charge of $320 million in 2006.
Analysts say Boeing’s failed Connexion online service was costly to install and operate, resulting in large expenditures before getting a single paying customer. An industrywide downturn triggered by the 2001 terrorist attacks made the system an even tougher sell to struggling airlines. Among other things, JetBlue Airways Corp., AMR Corp.’s American Airlines and Virgin America are today turning to air-to-ground connections to avoid Boeing’s expensive satellite fees.
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