The idea of using your phone, properly, while flying at 35,000 feet kind of feels unnatural. Airplane Mode on your phone is there for a reason, right? Well, kinda…
As more and more modern planes take to the sky, and competition between airlines grows, big, sweeping changes occur. And one of the biggest new trends is the rise of WiFi on planes.
This is a huge deal for airline and their customers alike, as it means commuters can work while they fly, as well as stay on top of their emails and social media, and nervous flyers can, well, tweet about how nervous they are while cruising at 30,000+ feet.
WiFi on a plane isn’t a totally new technology; it’s been around for a good few years now. But the proliferation of it, how fast it has grown, and how widely it is available on fleets of planes is new – it’s growing and spreading fast.
But What Are The Best Airlines For WiFi in 2018?
RouteHappy conducted a survey in 2018 in order to find out. According to its report, 82 airlines now have some sort of in-flight WiFi connectivity – that’s up 17% from 2016.
In order to get a better idea of WiFi proliferation on airplanes, RouteHappy used the following model to track WiFi: it measured Wi-Fi connectivity in Available Seat Miles (ASMs) by multiplying the number of seats available by the number of miles flown.
And below are the results of its findings:
However, ASMs does not mean you’re guaranteed to get WiFi on your flight should you go with one of the top 5 on that list.
Only Icelandair, Southwest, Virgin Atlantic and JetBlue have WiFi coverage on 100% of their fleet. However, JetBlue’s service ONLY works while flying in US airspace.
Out of ALL the airlines polled, only 13 had 100% coverage on long-haul flights. And these airlines are as follows: Air Europa, Delta, Emirates, Etihad, Eurowings, EVA Air, Iberia, Kuwait, Lufthansa, SAS, Scoot, United and Virgin Atlantic.
Airplane WiFi: It’s SLOW… But It’s Getting Better
“Carriers are upgrading their current Wi-Fi technology thanks to aircraft coming straight from the factory with internet routers installed,” notes The Points Guy.
It added: “The newer technology means Wi-Fi speeds are improving, too. Basic Wi-Fi systems that provide just enough speed for web browsing have dropped from 43% to 27% of ASMs in 2017. You’ll find Wi-Fi with speeds strong enough to complete real web browsing and limited media streaming at 57% of ASMs worldwide, while 16% of ASMs offer top-notch wi-fi, which allows video streaming and speeds comparable to a home connection.”
Free Airplane WiFi?
If you don’t want to pay for WiFi while you’re flying, you’re limited to just two airlines at present: JetBlue and Norwegian. Every other airline charges for WiFi on both domestic and international flights.
