American Airlines offers in-flight WiFi service across most of its fleet, allowing passengers to access the internet and stay connected during flights. Known as AA WiFi or American WiFi, onboard internet access has become an increasingly standard amenity on many domestic and international routes. american airlines wifi

While WiFi is now largely expected by passengers, American Airlines was actually an early pioneer of in-flight connectivity when it first introduced the Gogo internet service back in 2008. At the time, providing internet on planes was still a novel concept, limited to just a handful of airlines. Over a decade later, American has expanded its WiFi product to cover 700+ mainline aircraft, offering everything from basic web browsing to streaming entertainment.

The WiFi service allows American Airlines passengers to stay productive inflight by emailing and accessing work materials. It provides a valuable entertainment option as well, with options like surfing the internet, social media, movies, and live TV. WiFi access opens up new ways to pass the time during lengthy flights. However, it does come at an additional cost to passengers.

American Airlines has progressively upgraded its inflight WiFi product, migrating to faster satellite-based internet from its initial air-to-ground system. It has also expanded options for onboard streaming entertainment. The WiFi service still faces some criticism over speed and reliability issues. But overall, American Airlines continues to make onboard connectivity a priority and remain competitive with other airlines’ offerings.

History of WiFi on American Airlines

American Airlines first began adding in-flight WiFi capabilities to select aircraft in 2008 through a partnership with Aircell (which later became Gogo). The airline initially rolled out WiFi on its Boeing 767-200 fleet used for transcontinental flights. This allowed Americans to offer WiFi service on flights between New York, San Francisco, Miami, and Los Angeles.

In 2009, American continued expanding WiFi to more of its domestic fleet, including Boeing 737-800 and Airbus A321 aircraft. By 2010, the airline had equipped nearly 200 planes with WiFi connectivity for use across the continental United States. International WiFi capabilities came later, first launching on flights between the U.S. and Europe in 2012.

Today, American has one of the largest WiFi-equipped fleets of any U.S. airline. The carrier reports having nearly 700 aircraft with satellite-based broadband internet access and will have completed fleetwide installation by the summer of 2022. This will allow passengers to stay connected and online even on long-haul international routes.

Fleet Availability american airlines wifi

American Airlines has been steadily upgrading its fleet to add wifi capabilities over the past decade. Today, the airline reports that nearly 90% of its mainline fleet is equipped with onboard wifi. This includes newer plane models like the Airbus A321 and Boeing 737 MAX, as well as retrofitted older models like the Boeing 737-800.

Regional aircraft operated by American Eagle partners have been slower to adopt wifi. Currently, only about 20% of American Eagle planes offer WiFi connectivity. American Airlines has announced plans to continue retrofitting regional aircraft to increase this percentage in the coming years.

The widespread availability of wifi across America’s mainline fleet makes them one of the leading US airlines for inflight wifi access. Most flights over 2 hours operated by Americans will have wifi available for passengers. However, it’s still important to check your specific flight details to confirm wifi availability if seamless connectivity is essential to your inflight experience.

Pricing & Plans

American Airlines offers wifi access to most of its domestic fleet. Pricing and plan options vary depending on the length of flight and type of aircraft.

On shorter flights under 2 hours, basic wifi access starts at $10. More data-intensive plans, like streaming, are $16. For longer flights, pricing starts at $16 for basic wifi and goes up to $39 for streaming plans.

International Wi-Fi is available on all Boeing 777-300ER flights. Wi-Fi can be purchased once on board; currently, there is no pre-purchase option for international Wi-Fi.

All flights with inflight Wi-Fi receive complimentary access to aa.com

Pay as you fly

Wi-Fi is available on almost all routes for as little as $10.

Pay monthly or annually

If you fly often, you can buy a monthly or annual American Airlines Wi-Fi Subscription Plan for up to 2 devices.

To buy an American Airlines Wi-Fi Subscription Plan, you must:

• Be an AAdvantage^® member
• Have an email address saved in your AAdvantage^® account
• Have a credit card with a U.S. billing address saved in your AAdvantage^® account

How to connect to Wi-Fi

Speed & Performance

One of the most important features of in-flight WiFi is its speed and reliability. American Airlines utilizes Gogo’s state-of-the-art satellite-based internet network to provide WiFi to its passengers. The latest generation of satellites used by Gogo provides significant improvements in bandwidth, latency, and overall speed compared to previous satellite technology.

On most American Airlines flights with WiFi, passengers can expect to get download speeds between 5-10 Mbps. This is generally fast enough for most online activities like web browsing, email, social media, and streaming music. For additional fees, American offers higher-speed WiFi packages that can reach up to 20 Mbps for activities like video streaming.

The reliability of American’s WiFi is also very good due to Gogo’s satellite network. Connectivity during the flight is consistent, and the chances of the signal dropping are minimal since satellites provide service across the entire route. Only extreme weather or natural interference might cause temporary loss of signal.

Overall, American offers very capable in-flight WiFi in terms of speed and dependability. With the latest generation satellite network, passengers can stay connected with fast, reliable internet throughout their flight. While speeds may not reach those of ground networks, American’s WiFi keeps improving and provides a solid connection for most needs.

Partnerships

American Airlines partners with companies like Gogo Inflight Internet to provide WiFi for its passengers. Gogo Inflight Internet is the largest provider of inflight broadband in North America and provides satellite-based internet service to American Airlines planes as well as other major carriers like Delta, United, Alaska and Virgin America.

In addition to Gogo, American Airlines has partnered with Panasonic Avionics Corporation to install their high-speed satellite-based WiFi on newly delivered Boeing 787s and Boeing 777s. Panasonic Avionics provides a global broadband service that aims to provide a high-quality internet connection comparable to a ground-based system.

By partnering with Gogo and Panasonic, American Airlines can provide WiFi service across much of its fleet. Having multiple partners ensures competition which helps drive innovation and improvements in inflight WiFi speed, reliability and overall passenger experience. American’s selection of partners enables it to have broad WiFi availability and offer different service tiers at varied price points to its customers.

Entertainment Options with American Airlines Wifi

One of the best perks of having wifi access on American Airlines flights is the ability to stream entertainment from your own devices. With a strong and fast wifi connection available on most American Airlines planes, you can watch movies, and TV shows, listen to music, play games, and more from apps and services like Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Prime Video.

Many of these streaming apps allow you to download content to your device before your flight to watch offline later. This ensures you’ll have plenty of entertainment options even if the wifi connection is spotty. American Airlines does not currently allow access to streaming sites like YouTube and video calling over their wifi network, but you’ll find a wide selection of on-demand movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, and more through the airline’s official portal.

Overall, American Airlines provides excellent entertainment possibilities with their inflight wifi that really enhances the passenger experience. Being able to stream from your own apps and services makes it easy to access your own customized entertainment library while flying.

Comparison to Competitors

American Airlines offers competitive in-flight WiFi compared to other major US airlines. Southwest Airlines offers free gate-to-gate internet access on their flights but at slower speeds than American. Delta Air Lines also provides free WiFi messaging for T-Mobile customers but charges for web browsing and streaming.

American’s WiFi speeds and pricing seem to fall in the middle compared to competitors. They don’t offer free WiFi like Southwest but have faster speeds and more entertainment options. They also don’t restrict usage as much as United Airlines, which prohibits video streaming on most domestic flights.

Overall, American ranks competitively for in-flight WiFi among the major US airlines. They have wider availability than competitors like Delta and United, with WiFi-equipped on most of their mainline fleet. While not as inexpensive as Southwest, American does offer options to purchase just messaging access for a lower cost. Their WiFi partners also allow Premiere Loyalty members free WiFi access.

In summary, American Airlines’ in-flight WiFi keeps pace with competitors by offering wide availability, good speeds, and reasonable costs to customers. They provide a better overall value than some airlines with lots of WiFi restrictions while matching the robust entertainment options that Delta offers. For frequent American flyers, the WiFi can provide a productive and enjoyable experience.

Future Developments

American Airlines is continuously working to improve and expand its in-flight WiFi offerings. Here are some of the planned enhancements in the pipeline:

• Installation of satellite-based WiFi on its remaining domestic narrowbody aircraft fleet. This will provide faster, more reliable connections compared to the current air-to-ground system. Completion is expected by 2025.

• Upgrade to Viasat’s latest Ka-band satellite technology on newly delivered widebody aircraft, starting with Boeing 787-9s. This will increase speeds up to 100 Mbps per device.

• Introduction of free WiFi messaging (iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger) for all passengers, even those without a WiFi subscription. This is expected to roll out in 2023.

• Testing of 5G connectivity, allowing speeds up to 700 Mbps, though widespread adoption is still years away due to regulatory and infrastructure challenges.

• Enabling WiFi connectivity gate-to-gate, letting passengers stay online until the plane reaches the gate. Currently, WiFi is shut off below 10,000 feet during landing.

• Streaming trials for NBC content in 2022, with the potential to add live TV and other streaming partners in the future if successful.

• Upgrades to the onboard WiFi portal for easier login, payment and account management. American also plans to integrate connectivity with its mobile app.

As global demand for inflight connectivity increases, American is making significant investments to continue improving speed, coverage and reliability across its diverse fleet of nearly 1,600 mainline aircraft. While challenges remain, American aims to offer industry-leading WiFi and position itself for the connected flights of the future.

Conclusion american airlines wifi

American Airlines’ in-flight WiFi has come a long way over the past decade. What started as an amenity on just a handful of planes is now available fleetwide on nearly all of American’s 700+ mainline aircraft. This allows passengers to stay connected and productive while traveling across America or internationally.

Key features of American’s WiFi include:

• Availability across their entire mainline fleet, with satellite-based internet that works effectively even over oceans

• Multiple speed and pricing options to fit different needs and budgets

• Entertainment options like movies, TV shows, magazines, and games

• Partnerships with major providers like Gogo, Panasonic, and Viasat to deliver fast, reliable connections

Compared to other domestic airlines, American offers competitive WiFi services on par with Delta and United. While not free, their various pricing plans help make in-flight WiFi affordable for many travelers.

Looking ahead, American will likely continue investing in satellite connectivity and bandwidth to handle growing demand. They aim to make WiFi a standard amenity travelers can rely on, rather than an uncertainty, when flying American Airlines.

In summary, American Airlines’ WiFi offers essential connectivity for travelers who need to work or stay entertained in the air. The service has expanded to cover nearly all of American’s sizable fleet and offers reasonable rates for internet access. This keeps American competitive among leading US airlines for the growing number of flyers who now consider WiFi a must-have.