Alaska Airlines says it is planning on expanding its fast in-flight Wi-Fi service to its Embraer 175 regional jets.
In a partnership with Intelsat, Alaska reports it will begin introducing the new Wi-Fi service on Horizon Air planes early next year. After that, the airline will expand the service to the rest of its regional jet fleet, including aircraft operated by partner SkyWest, over the next two years.
The airline is already on track to offer satellite Wi-Fi on all its mainline aircraft by April of this year. That service is also provided by Intelsat.
Alaska says that Intelsat’s latest technology communicates not only with the traditional geostationary (GEO) satellites currently used for in-flight Wi-Fi but also with a new technology called “low Earth orbit” (LEO) satellites.
“With LEO at just 300 miles from the Earth’s surface, thousands of small satellites circling the planet ensure stronger connectivity with lower latency, or delay in telecommunications,” says the airline. “Being closer to Earth provides a benefit of a shorter delay time as data moves from the ground to satellites to aircraft and back. This unique combination of using both LEO and GEO satellites enables higher speeds and more coverage, particularly across remote areas in the state of Alaska.”
Alaska currently offers free texting on board, and charges $8 for its internet access. No word on any price changes with the upcoming service.
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