In a bid to provide high-speed and free in-flight Wi-Fi on all its planes, JetBlue has recently announced that it expects onsumers will finally benefit from it by the fall of 2016.
The company announced on Wednesday, Oct. 14, it has already wrapped up the installation of Fly-Fi in-flight Wi-Fi on its fleet of 150 Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft.
“Soon every JetBlue customer will step onboard knowing their aircraft is equipped with free, fast Internet and entertainment,” says Jamie Perry, vice president of brand and product development at JetBlue.
"Our Fly-Fi model has proven that there is a way to offer customers more without adding extra costs to their travel," Perry adds.
JetBlue is likewise moving into installations of the Fly-Fi—touting a speed of up to 20Mbps for every device at 35,000 feet—on its smaller Embraer E-190s.
For the past years, the carrier has been boasting it will be the very first airline to offer "high-speed Ka-band satellite connectivity." This, according to JetBlue, is around eight times as speedy as other in-flight Wi-Fi alternatives.
The Fly-Fi service will permit fliers to watch videos from Hulu and Netflix in addition to web browsing.
Meanwhile, it seems that Virgin America is following the steps of Jet Blue. In fact, in July, it already introduced its free Wi-Fi service as a free trial on 10 of its planes. Moreover, it also plans to provide Wi-Fi at speeds comparable with what JetBlue promises to offer to its passengers.
Earlier this year, it indicated its plan to team up with e-commerce giant Amazon to provide streaming service to Amazon Prime consumers free of charge. This means Amazon Prime members will be able to stream a wide variety of movies and TV shows during the flight.
Presently, JetBlue is offering free Wi-Fi service to its travelers. However, it is only suitable for checking emails and web browsing. Passengers, however, may opt to pay $9 for its Fly-Fi Plus service, allowing them to download huge files or use a VPN.
JetBlue flies to the U.S., Caribbean as well as a variety of Central and South American destinations.
