JetBlue to Introduce Inflight Email Service

American low-cost airline JetBlue Airways Corporation announced Thursday its plans to introduce a free e-mail and instant messaging service on one of its planes, making it the first U.S. airline to provide free in-flight Wireless Internet for passengers.

New York-based JetBlue Airways, which already offers DirecTV service, as well as XM satellite radio on some of its newer planes, said that it will offer free in-flight IM and e-mail on its new BetaBlue Airbus A320. The first flight with WiFi will be offered on Tuesday (December 11).

JetBlue Airways is working with Yahoo Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd. on the "BetaBlue" flights with onboard wireless network. It has cemented a deal with these tech titans to offer free Wireless Internet for passengers on JetBlue in-flights.

The free, in-flight, Wi-Fi service will enable passengers to surf the web on their laptop or Smart Phone while in the air.

Once the passenger jet reaches 10,000 feet, an in-plane network with three in-ceiling access points is activated, enabling users to access customized Yahoo mail and Yahoo instant messenger services on their laptops and Wi-Fi enabled gadgets like Blackberry 8820 and BlackBerry Curve 8320 handsets from Rim.

These services will not be available on takeoff or landing, and passengers won't be able to surf the full Web as the in-flight Internet service will be an early-stage test.

The debut flight of BetaBlue would take place on Tuesday morning, making the cross-country trip from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to San Francisco International Airport.

Following the low-cost airline’s in-flight wireless initiative, American Airlines, Virgin America and Alaska Airlines also plan to offer broader Web access in coming months.

Virgin America has even bigger plans to link the technology to its seat-back entertainment system, allowing travelers who are not having laptops or smart phones to send messages on a flight.

“I think 2008 is the year when we will finally start to see in-flight Internet access become available,” said Henry Harteveldt, an analyst with Forrester Research. “But I suspect the rollout domestically will take place in a very measured way.”

“In a few years time, if you get on a flight that doesn’t have Internet access, it will be like walking into a hotel room that doesn’t have TV,” he added.

According to the JetBlue representatives, the service is though limited at the moment, but the low-budget airline has expansion plans to the program if BetaBlue proves successful.