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August 12, 2005
Disconnected by Boeing
Here is another sign of how backwards the worldwide airline industry is. Japan Airlines (JAL) now has wireless internet access on its flights from JFK to Tokyo, provided through "Connexion by Boeing". (I will be on JAL's flight to Tokyo when I go to China next Thursday.) Wireless internet access throughout a 14-hour flight would be really swell, and I'd even live-blog with digital pictures of the view over Alaska, the Bering Sea, and Siberia.
It's too bad that JAL hasn't thought it all the way through. How does one get power for his computer after his battery dies in two hours? Here is what a JAL representative wrote me when I asked:
Unfortunately, there are no electrical connections for laptops or other electrical devices in our Economy Class sections on JAL flights departing from North America at the present time. On select aircraft configurations departing from North America, laptop power supply is now available in our Executive and First Class sections.
Many airlines have at least grasped the idea of having power outlets available on the flight: I fly American largely because of the power outlets. According to Seatguru.com, Singapore, Lufthansa, KLM, and others all have outlets.
It's swell that JAL has in-flight internet, but if I can't get a power connection to sustain my battery beyond its two hour life, it just goes to show how little JAL and the airline industry in general understands what it's like to be their customer.
Posted by adrianjo at August 12, 2005 03:11 PM
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