From deBeer

PostID 382932 On Friday, February 18, 2005 (EST) at 10:44:02 AM

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Boeing pitches in-flight system

By DAVE HIRSCHMAN

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 02/18/05

Boeing wants airline passengers to slip the surly bonds of earth without cutting their ties to the Internet.

The jet maker has created a wireless ``hot spot`` inside a Boeing 737 and came to Atlanta this week to sell Delta Air Lines executives on the advantages of surfing the Net and exchanging e-mail at 39,000 feet.

Passengers using the `Connexion by Boeing`) airborne wireless system will have a set of instructions available at each seat to help them utilize the system during their flight.

Delta won`t say if it plans to become the first domestic airline to buy into Boeing`s ``Connexion`` network.

But a growing list of international carriers — including Lufthansa, JAL, ANA, SAS and El Al — are equipping planes with satellite communications gear and charging passengers for Web access. Fees range from about $10 to $30, and Boeing says airlines recoup their investments in two years — and attract more lucrative business travelers.

``This technology gives airlines a powerful tool to differentiate themselves from their competition,`` says Stanley A. Deal, a Connexion vice president who was in Atlanta to demonstrate the system.

``It`s cheaper than in-flight entertainment systems, and our results show that customers see great value in it.``

A technical glitch blanked computer screens aboard Connexion`s orange-and-white 737 on Wednesday morning. The system was online that afternoon, however, when Delta executives took a test drive.

Boeing launched Connexion five years ago and was beginning to market the technology when the 2001 terror attacks pushed U.S. airlines into an unprecedented economic crisis. Cutthroat discount competition has kept the slump going for big carriers, including Delta.

Chris McGinnis, an Atlanta business travel consultant, says there`s a ready market for aerial Internet.

``I know that I, personally, would kill for something like that on a flight to Europe,`` he said. ``I spoke with a person the other day who closed a real estate deal while he was flying from Seattle to Tokyo. It`s something business travelers want and are willing to pay for.``

Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, said harried executives long ago gave up the notion that airplanes provided the last refuge from work.

``No one wants to get to their hotel room and have 80 e-mail messages waiting for them,`` he said.

Deal says market data Connexion has gathered in Europe and Asia should convince U.S. carriers that Web access is a necessity for business travelers. Voice-over-Internet telephones and videoconferencing could soon follow.

``From a technology standpoint, adding voice capability is relatively simple,`` Deal said. ``But there`s a lot of debate among the airlines about how to manage it. Are they going to have talking sections in airplanes the way they used to have smoking sections?``

From the airplane, Connexion sends electronic signals to orbiting satellites, which relay them to ground stations. Connexion has satellite coverage across the North Atlantic and most of the Pacific.

Outside the aircraft, the only hint that Connexion is installed comes from three lumpy domes that rise a few inches above the fuselage. The electronic gear weighs about 700 pounds and doesn`t require removing any seats. The system works on radio frequencies that — unlike cellphones — don`t interfere with cockpit avionics.

Deal says airlines can use Connexion to coordinate crew scheduling, update aeronautical charts, and monitor engines and other components in real time. When passengers have medical emergencies, airline workers can transmit high-resolution video to doctors on the ground to help decide whether to divert the plane.

Connexion faces competition from OnAir, a European joint venture that includes Boeing rival Airbus.

Connexion expects to break even for the first time in 2008. Deal said Boeing regards the subsidiary as a central part of its own future.

``We`ve been committed to this technology for five years,`` he said. ``And we`re going to continue to invest in it.``