Numerous Airlines Rolling Out Domestic Wi-Fi

It's been a long time coming, and it's not going to happen tomorrow, but Wi-Fi is finally arriving on domestic airlines. Depending on what you want to do and the luck of the draw of getting the right plane, you could be answering email at 30,000 feet as early as next week.

The flurry of announcements began with JetBlue, which is rolling out a free Wi-Fi option starting December 11... but that service only covers Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Messenger, and BlackBerry email access (in other words, no web browsing). Still, a step in the right direction, and one that leads to...

Virgin, Alaska, and American Airlines, which are bringing the full Internet experience to travelers, though none has committed to an actual launch date. The expectation: By the second quarter of 2008, all three will have at least one Wi-Fi-enabled plane in the skies as a pilot project. Alaska says if its test plane is successful, it will have its entire fleet equipped with wireless by the end of 2009.

Unlike JetBlue, you'll have to pay extra for this Wi-Fly access. Again, no pricing has been announced, but the expectation is that it will run about $10 extra. Also being worked out: Whether VOIP services like Skype will be blocked and, if so, how best to block them.

LINK: Web Access and E-Mail on Flights