Alaska Air commences trial of inflight WiFi

Alaska Airlines launched a customer trial of its new satellite-based Internet service from Row 44. Named Alaska Airlines Inflight WiFi, the service will be free at the trial's start, which began last week on an afternoon flight between Seattle and San Jose, Calif.

The trial will last about two months, after which Alaska Airlines will determine how it will roll out the service for its entire fleet. Passengers will be able to use the WiFi service on any WiFi-enabled device, such as laptops, smartphones and portable media players. The service has not yet received final Federal Communications Commission approval since it is being offered on a trial basis.

Alaska Airlines opted to use satellite services from Row 44 over Aircell's air-to-ground Gogo service because the Gogo service isn't available on flights traveling to and from Mexico, Alaska or Hawaii.

For more:
- take a look at this release

Related articles:
Alaska Airlines opts for satellite over Aircell service
Southwest Airlines to test satellite broadband service
2008 Year in Review: Inflight Internet made its debut
Delta offers in-flight Internet this week
United Airlines goes with Aircell's Gogo inflight WiFi service