American Airlines Announces Domestic Expansion of Aircell's Gogo Inflight Internet Service
March 31 2009 - 8:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Wi-Fi to Fly in the Sky On American's MD-80s and Boeing 737-800s
FORT WORTH, Texas and ITASCA, Ill., March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/
-- American Airlines is taking its high-altitude experiment with
Wi-Fi out of the trial stage and has decided to install Gogo(R)
Inflight Internet on more than 300 domestic aircraft over the next
two years. The expansion will help American Airlines further
enhance its customers' travel experience and meet their evolving
travel needs. American, a founding member of the oneworld(R)
Alliance, was the first U.S. airline to launch the Gogo service
last August. Since then, thousands of customers traveling on 15 of
American's Boeing 767-200 aircraft have enjoyed Inflight Internet
service primarily on nonstop flights between New York JFK and San
Francisco, Los Angeles, and Miami. American will install the
Aircell(R) system on its domestic MD-80 and Boeing 737-800 aircraft
fleets, beginning with 150 MD-80 aircraft this year. "We are
excited to be able to offer the Gogo high-speed service to
customers on other aircraft within the American Airlines domestic
fleet, starting with the MD-80s," said Dan Garton, American's
Executive Vice President-Marketing. "Our trial over the past six
months offered customers the choice to remain connected to work,
home or elsewhere when flying on American Airlines. And it also
gave us the ability to study customers' willingness to take
advantage of high-speed, onboard connectivity and to gauge how the
service performed technically in a variety of settings over an
extended period of time. We are pleased that the results were
positive and that we have decided to move forward." Gogo turns an
American Airlines flight into a Wi-Fi hotspot, enabling passengers
to surf the Web, check e-mail, send instant messages, access a
corporate VPN and more. Once the aircraft has reached 10,000 feet,
users can simply turn on their Wi-Fi enabled devices - such as
laptops, smartphones and handheld PDAs - then open their browsers
and be directed to the Gogo portal page where they sign up and
begin surfing. Gogo is powered by the Aircell air-to-ground (ATG)
system, which uses three small antennas installed outside the
aircraft and connects to Aircell's exclusive nationwide mobile
broadband network. Aircell's price for the Gogo service ranges from
$7.95 to $12.95 based on length of flight and whether the device is
a handheld PDA or a laptop computer. Aircell's pricing plans are:
-- Long Flight Pass: $12.95 - Standard price for flights longer
than 3 hours -- Short Flight Pass: $9.95 - Standard price for
flights 3 hours or less -- Mobile Flight Pass: $7.95 - Mobile
device pricing for customers using a handheld device on
Gogo-equipped flights of any length "The passenger response to Gogo
Inflight Internet has exceeded even our own high expectations, with
many people becoming frequent users who rely on it to stay
connected to the office, friends and family in their travels," said
Jack Blumenstein, President and CEO, Aircell. "We are excited to
help American Airlines expand Gogo to the majority of its domestic
fleet, enabling more of its passengers to turn flying time into 'me
time.' With Gogo, flying becomes whatever you want it to be -
productive, entertaining, informative, you name it." Each paid Gogo
session includes full Internet, e-mail and VPN access. Cell phone
and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service use will not be
available. About American Airlines American Airlines, American
Eagle and the AmericanConnection(R) airlines serve 250 cities in 40
countries with, on average, more than 3,400 daily flights. The
combined network fleet numbers more than 900 aircraft. American's
award-winning Web site, AA.com(R), provides users with easy access
to check and book fares, plus personalized news, information and
travel offers. American Airlines is a founding member of the
oneworld(R) Alliance, which brings together some of the best and
biggest names in the airline business, enabling them to offer their
customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide
on its own. Together, its members serve nearly 700 destinations in
over 140 countries and territories. American Airlines, Inc. and
American Eagle Airlines, Inc. are subsidiaries of AMR Corporation.
AmericanAirlines, American Eagle, AmericanConnection, AA.com, We
know why you fly and AAdvantage are registered trademarks of
American Airlines, Inc. (NYSE: AMR) About Aircell Aircell is the
world's leading provider of airborne communications. As winner of
an exclusive FCC frequency license in 2006, Aircell has built a
revolutionary mobile broadband network for commercial and business
aviation. In 2008, the Aircell Network and its inflight portal,
Gogo(R), revolutionized the commercial airline passenger flight
experience by delivering a robust Internet experience at 35,000
feet. In addition, the Aircell Network provides airlines with
connectivity to operations and a path to enhanced cabin services
such as video, audio, television and more. A similar feature set is
available to Business aircraft operators. Aircell has facilities in
Broomfield, Colorado, and Itasca, Illinois. Aircell's vision is to
give everyone the ability to stay in touch, in flight(R). For more
information about Aircell, please visit www.aircell.com. About Gogo
Gogo(R), powered by Aircell(R), turns a commercial airplane into a
Wi-Fi hotspot with true inflight Internet access. Passengers with
Wi-Fi enabled devices, such as laptops, smartphones and PDAs, can
surf the Web, check e-mail, instant message, access a corporate VPN
and more. For more information about Gogo, please visit
www.gogoinflight.com. (C) 2009 Aircell LLC. Aircell and Gogo are
trademarks of Aircell or its affiliates. All rights reserved
AmericanAirlines(R) We know why you fly(R) Current AMR Corp.
releases can be accessed on the Internet. The address is
http://www.aa.com DATASOURCE: American Airlines CONTACT: Charley
Wilson, Corporate Communications of American Airlines, Fort Worth,
Texas, +1-817-967-1577, ; or Brenda Chroniak of RF|Binder,
+1-781-455-8250, , for Aircell, Needham, Mass. Web Site:
http://www.aa.com/
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