American Airlines becomes the first North American airline to test streaming inflight entertainment and american to enhance customer connectivity with inflight streaming video and expansion of Wi-Fi to virtually entire domestic fleet.This would offer passengers a better selection of entertainment content than the two most recently released movies or lame TV show reruns you purposely missed the first time around and bring airline companies n additional source of income…….
American Airlines, a founding member of the oneworld Alliance secures another industry first. American is the first North American airline to begin testing the new inflight streaming video product from Aircell which will offer the airline’s customers a brand-new, innovative inflight entertainment option. The new product will allow customers to wirelessly stream content such as movies and TV shows from an inflight library to their personal Wi-Fi-enabled devices during flight.American, partnering with Aircell, is currently testing the new inflght video system on two Boeing 767-200 aircraft in transcontinental service, and plans to begin customer testing early this summer. The airline’s goal is to roll out this product on Wi-Fi-enabled aircraft starting this fall pending FAA certifications.“Once again, American leads the industry in providing innovative options to keep customers connected, productive and entertained. American was the first North American airline to launch inflight Wi-Fi, and today we again set a new industry standard as the first domestic airline to test inflight streaming video content,” said Rob Friedman, American’s Vice President – Marketing. “We know our customers want to be connected on the ground and in the sky, so we are working hard to stay on the leading edge of connectivity through technology enhancements like this.”
In addition, American will work with Aircell to further enhance onboard connectivity by expanding inflight Wi-Fi to its narrow body fleet, including additional MD80 and domestic Boeing 757-200 aircraft – successfully completing its Wi-Fi offering on all of its domestic aircraft dedicated to flying within the continental United States.The Wi-Fi expansion will include 93 of American‘s domestic 757s used for routes within the continental United States and up to 50 additional MD80 aircraft. Installation will begin this summer and continue through 2012. In addition, American continues to install Wi-Fi service on its entire fleet of 737-800 aircraft.American’s inflight Wi-Fi and the new streaming video product are powered by the Aircell air-to-ground system, which uses three small antennas installed outside the aircraft and connects to Aircell‘s exclusive nationwide mobile broadband network. Pricing for the new streaming video offering will be determined closer to launch and at the completion of customer testing.The streaming video offering is American’s latest enhancement in a series of investments in mobile technology. Leading the industry with the development of mobile applications for iPhone, iPad, Android, NOOK and Blackberry (currently beginning Beta testing), as well as creating new mobile technologies for its operations, American understands the importance of connectivity and is strategically setting aside funding for enhancements with the goal of keeping customers connected.
“By expanding Wi-Fi to the remainder of American’s domestic fleet and adding movies and TV to the already powerful Internet, American and Aircell continue to transform the inflight experience,” said Ash ElDifrawi, Executive Vice President and CMO of Aircell. “In this new era of inflight entertainment and inflight connectivity convergence, we are proud to be American’s partner in innovation and applaud their leadership.””Mobility is where we are all headed and our focus on new technologies in this space is unmatched by our competitors,” added Friedman.
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