Aircell CEO: 2,000 aircraft will offer Gogo by year end 2009

Aircell is expected to announce another deal with an airline for its air-to-ground wireless broadband service Gogo. Aircell CEO Jack Blumenstein said an announcement will come within days and, all told, some 2,000 commercial aircraft will be offering Gogo service by year end 2009, he said.

American Airlines recently launched Aircell's Gogo mobile broadband service on three coast-to-coast flights, making the service available for $12.95 per flight on its 15 Boeing 767-200 aircraft. The service is still considered a test, which means the airline could still drop the service or expand it later. The Internet calling feature is blocked to keep passengers from making phone calls.

Earlier this month, Delta Airlines took the plunge as the first U.S. airline to offer inflight WiFi access on a substantial number of aircraft. The company said it will soon WiFi-enable some 330 domestic aircraft, offering Aircell's Gogo service for $9.95 on flights of three hours or less and $12.95 on flights of more than three hours.  

For more:
- read InformationWeek [1]

Related stories:
American Airlines [2] taps AirCell for in-flight WiFi
Delta [3] takes the WiFi plunge