Hello everyone!  You probably saw the title of this blog post and thought, “haven't I heard that before?”  True, the road to onboard wi-fi has been a long one, but this week we took a major step that gets us closer to rolling out the system fleetwide.  We ended the equipment "testing" phase and signed an equipment purchase contract with our wi-fi provider, Row 44.

As you know, we’ve been testing Wi-Fi on four aircraft since March.  I’m happy to announce we have concluded our testing for inflight Wi-Fi and we are very happy with both the technical performance of the system and the response of Customers who have used it. We are pleased to be continuing with our plans to offer satellite-enabled broadband access through California-based Row 44.

On June 24, Southwest will begin a new testing phase for Inflight Wi-Fi on the four aircraft that are currently equipped with wi-fi technology.  In order to match the price of our product with what the market is willing to pay, we will be testing a variety of price points.

Southwest now has four aircraft up and running with Wi-Fi service—and so far, the testing is going really well.  Southwest has operated the service on more than 500 flights and more than 9,000 Customers have logged on.

There's a different blue glow in the pre-dawn sky over Texas this morning.  It's the diamond light of productivity from internet-connected laptops and smart phones aboard Southwest Airlines flight 1 between Dallas Love Field and Houston Hobby Airport.