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Southwest Airlines will briefly provide vacationers free Wi-Fi on sure flights beginning this week, a part of a check to carry quicker web to extra clients.
The service has outfitted 40 of its Boeing 737s with upgraded {hardware} for its Wi-Fi service, in line with a memo to workers despatched Tuesday. Southwest’s Wi-Fi upgrades are the most recent effort by an airline to enhance connectivity on board.
Hawaiian Airlines final week stated it plans to offer free Wi-Fi as early as subsequent 12 months by way of SpaceX’s Starlink service, which it hopes will carry quick web to passengers on lengthy journeys over the Pacific Ocean. Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian has repeatedly stated the airline plans to supply free web connection. The service trialed the complimentary entry earlier than the pandemic.
The free Wi-Fi on Southwest can be accessible from Might 4 by way of June 10 on sure flights within the western U.S., Tony Roach, vp of buyer expertise and buyer relations, wrote within the memo to workers.
The airline at the moment provides Wi-Fi for $8 per day and says on its web site that it blocks entry to some high-bandwidth websites equivalent to Netflix, HBO Max and Zoom.
“This trial will enable Clients to stream, browse, and have interaction on the web for gratis identical to different complimentary companies,” Roach wrote. “Our aim is to judge how the brand new {hardware} improves efficiency whereas delivering a dependable web expertise utilized by a big quantity of Clients.”
Southwest declined to supply extra element.
Correction: Southwest at the moment provides Wi-Fi for $8 per day. A earlier model misrepresented the providing.
