Airline email takes flight

Of all the flights in the world today, I’d most want to fly between New York City and San Francisco. Why? Email.

JetBlue tested its free wi-fi on this morning’s Flight 641, dubbed BetaBlue. Can you imagine the number of laptops on board, the kinds of emails being sent, and the follow-up phone calls from SFO to check whether the emails arrived or not?

Even before the flight took off, we already knew that it wasn’t a perfect system—passengers only have access to email and instant messaging through Yahoo, and they’re limited to two models of Blackberry (8820, 8320). But considering the limited capabilities up to this point, any access is progress. Baby steps.

BetaBlue will test the service for six months during its five flights a day. Depending on the reaction of passengers, JetBlue could expand to other planes and other email accounts (no exclusive deals with Yahoo have been signed).

After failed attempts in the past by other airlines, JetBlue is the first carrier in the US with email capabilities. Others are scheduled to follow in 2008: American Airlines, Virgin America, and Alaska Airlines.