Panasonic Avionics’ prediction early this year that commercial aviation will adopt the free Wi-Fi model by the end of this decade appears on track to becoming a reality, as evidenced by the volume of carriers that embraced complimentary onboard Internet for passengers in 2023 alone, or vowed to do so in the future — as is the case at Qatar Airways.
Many airlines around the globe are first dipping into the model by offering a free messaging tier. Panasonic customer Vistara, for instance, recently announced that members of its loyalty programme will receive “complimentary inflight Wi-Fi ideal for unlimited texting” on board its connected Airbus A321neo and Boeing 787-9 twinjets. The Indian operator, which is being merged with Air India, joins a laundry list of carriers now offering free messaging, including recently Lufthansa aboard it short-haul flights.
Other airlines are going further, and tying free unfettered access to the Internet to loyalty programme membership. Delta famously started doing so this year for SkyMiles members via its Delta Sync product, as powered by Viasat’s high-capacity Ka-band service and sponsored by T-Mobile. In the future, Hughes Network Systems will support the free Wi-Fi model on Delta’s Boeing 717s and regional jets.
Also in the ‘tie free Wi-Fi to loyalty’ camp is Singapore Airlines, which on 1 July began offering complimentary, unlimited Wi-Fi access on all but seven aircraft in its fleet for members of its KrisFlyer frequent flyer programme. And it’s using free Wi-Fi as the carrot to prompt non-members to sign up.
“Non-KrisFlyer members may also sign up for their free membership online or on board their flight via the SIA digital content portal on their personal mobile devices to enjoy the complimentary inflight Wi-Fi,” said Singapore Airlines, which has two connectivity providers: Panasonic with its Ku-band satellite system and SITA with a Ka-band offering that is powered by Viasat London’s Global Xpress service.
Meanwhile, a small but growing cadre of carriers have opted to go ‘whole hog’ by eschewing data caps and removing barriers to entry. For example, passengers traveling on select widebody aircraft operated by Malaysia Airlines — six Airbus A350-900s, nine A330-300s and five A330-200s — have been able to avail of unlimited complimentary Wi-Fi “regardless of cabin class or loyalty tier” since 1 November.
“With this new enhanced offering, passengers, including those traveling in economy class and non-Enrich members, will no longer be required to subscribe to the airline’s pay-per-use Wi-Fi. Passengers can simply connect their devices to the ‘MHconnect’ network to enjoy the airline’s free inflight Wi-Fi to keep in touch with their loved ones or for browsing the internet,” explained the airline, adding that the service will be rolled out on select equipped narrowbody aircraft “in phases”.
Panasonic celebrated the Malaysia Airlines news, saying in a LinkedIn post: “As their long term connectivity partner, Panasonic Avionics is delighted to collaborate with Malaysia Airlines to enable them to deliver complimentary Wi-Fi to their passengers.”
Past users of Panasonic’s inflight connectivity service might be surprised to learn that some of its airline customers are removing data caps and adopting a free tier of service. But the aero ISP and inflight entertainment giant has made several improvements to its network to support this migration.
In recent years, it rolled out a new high-throughput modem from ST Engineering iDirect. Additionally, revealed Panasonic Avionics vice president, connectivity business unit John Wade, “I took the opportunity to look at some basic stuff, like some of the network settings that we had behind the scenes, and realized that we had some choke points that we didn’t have to have. So, we relaxed some of the network settings that we had and things started to run better and it’s only going to get better.”
Additionally, Wade told Runway Girl Network in late September at the APEX/IFSA Global EXPO in Long Beach, “As we mentioned previously, we’re increasing our network capacity by 50% on the GEO network. What we failed to mention in that press release is that’s happening now. It’s all going to be done by the end of this year. So there’s going to be 50% additional capacity in addition to the improvements that you’ve seen on our network recently. So watch this space; let me know how it’s going because I would expect it’s only going to get better.”
Other carriers offering free inflight Wi-Fi include (but are not limited to) Intelsat customer Japan Airlines; plus Viasat Ka-band customers: standard-setter JetBlue, Qantas on short/medium-haul, Brazilian operator Azul and Canada’s Porter Airlines on its Embraer E2s.
But even budget carriers that have not invested in broadband Ku- or Ka-band satellite-based inflight connectivity systems are gravitating towards a ‘freemium’ strategy by using lower cost Iridium Certus-based connectivity solutions that support free messaging, such as AirFi LEO.
These direct offers from airlines are in addition to the ever expanding number of telecommunications companies that have opted to provide free inflight Wi-Fi for certain cellular plan holders.
It’s clear there are many flavors of free inflight Wi-Fi and that one size does not fit all. But given the price point, who’s complaining?
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