Panel Wants U.S. to Lift Restrictions on In-Flight Passenger Communications

A panel of industry experts believe American airlines may be competitively disadvantaged, when operating internationally compared to European carriers, because of U.S. government restrictions on their in-flight Internet connectivity and communication services.

The Open Skies Agreement, signed by U.S. and European airlines last year, goes into effect this March, allowing U.S. and European carriers to compete in each other's market for transatlantic routes.  But some industry observers foresee a potential competitive imbalance favoring non-U.S. carriers that could result if the current regulatory restrictions imposed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and FAA aren't lifted.

The panel discussed the problem at a press briefing recently in Washington, D.C., sponsored by EMS Technologies and Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine.  The panel included representatives from AeroMobile, TCOM, JetBlue Airways, Inmarsat, OnAir, EMS SATCOM, and the World Airline Entertainment Association (WAEA).

While the FCC and FAA currently restrict airlines from using cell phones, airlines like JetBlue are moving forward on trials with introductions of in-flight Wi-Fi this year.  In December, JetBlue, in partnership with LiveTV, Research in Motion and Yahoo!, became the first U.S. domestic carrier to provide free in-flight e-mail and text messaging on an A320 aircraft equipped with an onboard wireless network.

According to the WAEA, the market for in-flight communication and entertainment will increase from $50 million in 2005 to $950 million by 2016.  02-07-2008.

Click here to become a registered Flt Tech Online subscriber and receive headlines delivered to your e-mail each week

Click here to go back to the headlines