The global state of wifi is looking good, according to a new report by Routehappy.
The current count of airlines offering in-flight wifi stands at 52, meaning that there is at least "some" chance of access to the service on at least a quarter of all flights globally.
Within the United States, that percentage jumps up to 66% for at least "some chance" of wifi . Delta is the winner domestically, offering the highest number of miles and flight miles with access to wifi.
Non-US airlines offer wifi on 15% of their international flights.
Other bits and bytes:
- A "very good" chance of wifi occurs on 20% of international flight miles from the following airlines: Aeroflot, Emirates, Etihad, Iberia, Icelandair, Japan Lufthansa, Norwegian and Singapore.
- The top performers were Norwegian and Icelandair — each airline surpassed 80% on the "very good" scale.
- Delta is tops in the US as far as wifi availability.
- United is not too far behind Delta, especially as it has the most international planes equipped with wifi.
- United also has a top rating as far as the speed of its on-board equipment.
- The most-plied domestic routes in the Unites States have ubiquitous wifi — that's every city pair with over 20 daily flights in each direction.
There were dramatic improvements when compared to Routehappy's last report from July 2013, especially on the speed front; many of the in-flight technologies now rely on multiple satellites for speedier access. For example, as far as wifi access, United only had "some chance" on 518 of its flights in 2013 — now that number is 1445, a 179% increase.
Routehappy CEO Robert Albert believes that wifi has become a must-have amenity that had led to an arms race among airlines:
"Wifi is one of the most sought after, new amenities flyers want to access on their flights, and there has been significant investment by airlines since our last report.
"Coverage is starting to be meaningful on flights worldwide, along with a wide variety of speeds, coverage availability, and pricing models, including free of charge."
The proliferation of in-flight wifi is also boosted by the transition to personal device entertainment. Many airlines are offering direct streaming of content to passenger devices, which necessitates a stronger, more robust in-plane network.
Here's how Routehappy's rankings work:
- Some chance: up to a third has wifi
- Good chance: One third to thirds have wifi
- Very good chance: More than two thirds have wifi.
The data also calls out good, better and best wifi, which refers to basic 3G systems, 4G and advanced systems streaming video, respectively. The most advanced systems are only presen on one percent of aircraft surveyed, but this number is set to increase quickly as Gogo recently
received FCC approval for next-gen installations in the United States.
Full-size infographic here.
NB: Happy cabin image courtesy Shutterstock.