Technology Marches On!
Last week, while returning from LAX to JFK on American, I tried out a new service that, depending on your point-of-view, either A) promises to turn “downtime” into productive time or B) threatens to eliminate one of the last refuges of private time in our harried lives.
The service is called “gogo.” It offers real-time Wi-Fi internet connections while in flight.
I signed up and was up and running in no time – the sign up for an account and logon procedures were essentially the same as one would find on T-Mobile or AT & T at locations like Starbucks or Borders or the flight lounges of various airlines. Once online, the system seemed to work as quickly and efficiently as Wi-Fi in my home and office, both of which are connected to cable modems. I was able to surf the net, pick up some stock quotes (sigh) and sports scores, send and receive a bunch of emails, and generally do everything online I would be doing here at the office instead of actually working, or reading.
Quoting from their website:
“…Gogo is the first wireless broadband network with wings, providing coverage on select partnering airlines across the continental United States* at speeds similar to wireless mobile broadband services on the ground. The Aircell Network provides border-to-border, coast-to-coast wireless frequency coverage for in-flight broadband utilizing Aircell’s patented technology and national, wholly-owned cellular network…”
They even provide route maps of their current airline services:
Gogo is a service provided by its parent company, Aircell. Aircell has been providing communications services like this on fancy Gulfstreams and Learjets for investment bankers and oil sheiks for a while. Gee…I guess they (Aircell) are looking for increased revenue! Full disclosure: One of the mad geniuses behind this service – the Senior Vice President, Passenger Services – is a former partner of ours here at MCAworks. Aircell was a client of Tom’s here for a while and he decided to join the company in view of the huge upside opportunity. If you try out the service and have any comments, I’m sure Tom would like to review them. You can reach him at tweigman@aircell.com.
For you marketing geeks viewing this blog, (that would be you, Drew McLellan, Gavin Heaton, (how will your down under Big Brother Senators react to the subversiveness of internet surfing IN THE AIR?!) Jay Ehret, Kaitlyn Wilkins, C. B. Whittemore, Toby, Phil Gerbyshak, Scott Gillum, Christina Kerley, and, especially Arun Rajagopal, who flies back and forth from Dubai!), there are an array of interesting marketing and business model issues on which Aircell is working. Pricing, of course, is important: I was willing to pay the $12.95 for a five-hour coast-to-coast flight, but will I pay that much on a one-hour shuttle from LaGuardia to Detroit? If the price is lowered, however, will there be enough to profitably split between Aircell, the airline, the carriers on the ground, reciprocal wireless providers, etc.? Advertising, promotion, and publicity are, as usual, also critical: right now, the service is limited to a few long-distance routes like the LAX – JFK leg I traveled. So, the marketing is mostly done on-site at airports…flyers & signage in the Admirals Club, handouts of luggage tags and coupons at the gate, etc. As the build out proceeds, when should the company move to more broad-based, if not mass, communications? When they do so, should it be done largely via direct-to-consumer (statement stuffers in my AAdvantage statement) or mass advertising?
In any event, it is, of course, a step forward for productivity – and entertainment – to be able to access the net in flight. I expect my children will want me to sign them on when we take a vacation so they can play games, or head to Facebook, or whatever it is they do. From a personal convenience standpoint, I find surfing the net in flight far more acceptable than making cell phone calls: Surfing the net is private and silent, failing, thereby, to intrude on the peace and quiet of fellow passengers. It is, essentially, READING, long the accepted form of personal diversion in flight. Phone calls in the narrow confines of an airplane or train, however, are intolerably intrusive. Emily Post agrees with me.
