Pre-Flight Wi-Fi
Posted on Tuesday, August 9th, 2005 at 14:57.
Despite a grueling airline experience this past weekend, I found much stress relief in using my Powerbook to turn downtime into productive time. And for only $8 an hour, I was able to do just that.
When will airports realize that providing free Wi-Fi is like providing free air conditioning? And what about power outlets? Arthur and I sat on the floor huddled around a lone power outlet. Even the newly opened $400-million Terminal A in Logan Airport missed this design element. With more and more fliers traveling with laptops, iPods, portable DVD systems, and other personal technology devices, providing a few power outlets to recharge is common sense.
I don’t want 33 retail outlets in Terminal A. More places to spend money on things I don’t need nor have the space in my checked luggage to carry are not the best way to distract me from my delayed flight. Nothing compromises airport security more than having lots of retail outlets with employees and product shipments that go through significantly less security than your average grandma getting frisked for having a nail file.
But back to Wi-Fi. To further prove the incompetence of Massachusetts, Logan Airport demanded Continental Airlines to stop providing free Wi-Fi to its Presidents Club members because $8/hr for spotty and slow Wi-Fi cannot compete with free. Continental filed a complaint with the FCC in response.
I sure hope that Continental wins. I love flying them because they are always so nice.. And they usually have the cheapest rates in and out of my home town.
Airports really do suck though, I traveled a lot over the last year and always found it to be such a pain in the ass to find somewhere to plug in while at the airport.
I never could bring myself to pay for the Wi-Fi though, I always thought it was such a rip off…
Airports in general need to get the act together, but with more and more Gov’ment intervention I doubt that’s going to happen!
Adios.
Ben Forta has some intelligible thoughts on the subject too.
My open-letter to Massport (Logan Airport):