Cutline Speaks
Connected at 36,402 Feet
posted by Megan on May 21, 2009
I've taken cross-country flights between D.C. and the Bay Area well over a hundred times in the last 10 years. The routine is basically the same every time: a mad dash out of the house, a couple of tricks to get through the airport faster, and then the final scramble to get my last emails, texts, and calls sent as the airplane door shuts. And then it's quiet. I pull out a book or a magazine, or I watch a movie that I haven't seen. Sometimes I just sit and think during a flight. It's actually where I do my best thinking. No phone calls or emails or distractions. Until now.
When Virgin first announced Internet access on some of its flights last year, I was torn. Don't get me wrong, I hate being disconnected. However, I secretly relish the airline-imposed quiet period during a flight. Since Virgin is one of my regular carriers, I have few excuses to not get online in flight.
Well, here I am. Sitting at a little more than 35,000 feet composing this post on Google Docs before we add it to the site. No significant latency. No connection drops. Just me, and about 150 other people on a packed Memorial Day flight, and the heat from all of their laptops.
What's the verdict? Besides the heat, the Wi-Fi is pretty great. I've avoided real work by checking Facebook, Tweeting, emailing a few friends, looking at pictures of my kids on Picasa, and now writing this post. If I keep it up, I'll have paid $12.95 to goof off for five straight hours. Fairly impressive.
As you might guess, the race is on to help business travelers all over the U.S. find new ways to waste time in flight. You'll soon be able to check your email, surf the web and watch YouTube with most domestic carriers. In fact, just yesterday, Virgin announced that it has completed Wi-Fi installation on its entire fleet. Even though my quiet time will certainly get interrupted, I say it's about time. No more panic over five email-less hours. No more wishing I could find that one piece of information I need for the presentation I'm finishing up. I'm quite sure that in addition to being a frequent flier, I'll also be a frequent surfer.
Tags for this post: megan
Comments
June 05 2009 - 10:40 AM | by Burton White
Very interesting post. I too relish the quiet time and do my best thinking on a flight. I even think the hummmmmmmmm of the engines helps with that. I can see how many (most?) business travelers will LOVE the “connectedness.” However, I think in-flight Wi Fi is only half of what is needed. How about enough room to comfortably open your laptop on a flight?! I guess we’ll have to pay a little more to upgrade to firt class if we want that.