Apple Thoughts: Alaska Air Offering Free Wi-Fi (for 60 days at least)

"Alaska Airlines is the latest carrier to launch in-flight Wi-Fi, offering passengers on a specially equipped Boeing 737 a service that uses satellites instead of cellular towers to connect the plane to the Internet."

Service is due to begin this Thursday, and will be free during the initial 60-day testing phase. They are partnering with Row 44 to provide the service, while others in the airline industry have opted to go with Aircell's Gogo system. The difference is that the Gogo system links to the Internet over specialized EV-DO towers on the ground. Row 44 on the other hand uses a satellite-based system. The reason they chose this provider is due to the amount of flights that take the Alaska Airline fleet over water and wilderness areas, typically not places you might see a cell tower I suppose. After the testing phase the price was expected to be around $10/flight USD, but they have backed off that estimate due to the "economic conditions" all airlines are facing.