Routehappy, a website that rates flights by "happiness" factors that measure the entire in-flight experience, just released a report on in-flight WiFi. Senior Editor Kate Rice talked with John Walton, Routehappy's director of data, about how in-flight WiFi can be a doubled-edged sword.
Q: Routehappy tracks all sorts of "happiness factors," including in-flight WiFi. What kind of impact does in-flight WiFi have on the flight experience?
A: In many ways, flying has lost a little bit of the luster and magic of yesterday, and WiFi brings it back. We are all used to sharing our lives and experiences and joys and our little terrors with our friends. So if you're on a plane and little Jimmy does something that is amusing or Uncle Pat has something that is appetizing, or unappetizing, this is an excellent opportunity for you to share that experience. Most people get their impression of the inside of the plane from their friends, and that can be through social media: "Here is Jane with her eyemask on in the middle of the night." When Air New Zealand puts animal eyes on their sleep masks or when some other airline gives out something fun for the kids, that is a huge plus.
Q: But what are the minuses?
A: When Cousin Joe is squeezed in and Cousin Joe is 6-foot-2, and you see him there with his knees around his ears. No amount of advertising is going to rescue that situation. And that shared stuff can go viral so easily, as so many airlines have found out. They're under scrutiny as never before. But WiFi also helps because it's immediate, and airlines can get going on service recovery immediately. If someone posts a tweet after takeoff on United -- "We are two hours delayed, and I am going to miss my flight" -- United can have someone waiting at the gate to start that service recovery. It is both a threat and an opportunity for airlines.
Q: What if you don't want to use the paid WiFi services? Is there any point to logging on at all to use the free services, such as online shopping?
A: The online shopping portals are pretty handy from a consumer perspective. If I'm on a two-hour flight, I don't necessarily want full WiFi on the flight. For that 15 bucks, maybe I'll get a really good glass of wine when I land. But you can catch up on your Amazon shopping, get dry goods for a month delivered to your door or catch up on birthday shopping. On the ground, I never really have time to browse Amazon anymore, but if you're in the sky and you're browsing, that is really valuable for passengers and Amazon. It's an incredibly useful thing for both parties.
Q: What about binge viewing in flight?
A: One of the things you see a lot on planes are people watching their favorite shows or new shows, and they like to watch a number of episodes. Now, you can either download them onto your iPad before you leave home or in the airport lounge. Or a server on the plane will stream as much as you want in the sky. ... It is on the WiFi server on the plane. It doesn't have to go down to the ground [for that content]. That has been the limitation of WiFi. There has never been enough pipe from the plane to the ground, but there is plenty of pipe between the user and the plane.
So the answer is, put a spacious hard drive on the plane and you can stream as much content as you'd like to 150 or 160 or more customers. On 777s and A380s it is a huge thing. It allows for one video connection to the ground. Emirates is trying this now. They are picking up live news and live sports. They store that on the plane and you can watch it whenever you like. That means they only have one connection leaving the plane.
Follow Kate Rice on Twitter @krtravelweekly.