The airline says this move will help it remain competitive.
American aircraft in Phoenix (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)
American is set to test free Wi-Fi on select routes next month. Delta debuted complimentary Wi-Fi access to its SkyMiles members in 2023, and United recently announced plans to roll out Starlink across its fleet.
Several years ago, American was one of the first U.S. carriers to roll out high-speed Wi-Fi across its mainline narrowbody fleet. Dual-class regional jets are also slated to receive high-speed Wi-Fi upgrades.
Internet access has always come at a cost. But next month, American plans to trial free Wi-FI on three routes.
Per an internal memo from the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline, these routes include Charlotte, North Carolina, to Jacksonville, Florida; Charlotte to Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina; and Miami to Chicago O’Hare.
“Through this test, we’ll be assessing customer take rates for inflight Wi-Fi, evaluating our provider and aircraft capacity, and – perhaps most important – measuring the impact to customer satisfaction via NPS scores,” said Chief Customer Officer Heather Garboden in the memo.
The economy cabin on American’s A321neo (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Ryan Ewing)
In addition to Delta and soon United, several carriers already offer free Wi-Fi access. JetBlue has offered on-the-house connectivity for over a decade.
Hawaiian Airlines also offers free Wi-Fi. All of the carrier’s Airbus A330 and A321neo aircraft were recently outfitted with Starlink.
“With the creation of our new Customer Experience organization led by Chief Customer Officer Heather Garboden, American Airlines is more committed than ever to enhancing every aspect of our customers’ travel journey,” an airline spokesperson told AirlineGeeks in a statement. “Staying connected in the skies is critical to today’s passengers and through this limited-time complimentary Wi-Fi test, we are exploring opportunities to build upon our high-speed Wi-Fi offerings to stay competitive in the industry and give our customers what we know they want.”
American’s free Wi-Fi trials are scheduled to begin next week, the carrier said.
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