Its no-frills mandate--no meals, no in-flight service, no travel agents--is popular with both budget-seekers and jet-setters.
In-flight service has quite possibly never been worse, due in large part to several continuing labor disputes.
In-flight Internet service provider GoGo announced Wednesday that it has reached a deal to expand service aboard US Airways fleet of Airbus A319, A320 and Embraer 190 aircrafts.
On long-haul flights, texting and Wi-Fi access might prove more attractive than voice-calling, provided the price is right though Boeing recently axed Connexion, its impressive but little used satellite-based in-flight broadband service.
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More than 800 Delta aircraft, including all Delta Connection two-class regional jets, are equipped with in-flight Wi-Fi service offering more than 400, 000 customers per day access to the internet above 10, 000 feet.
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It is getting harder to find good excuses for being offline: this week the European Union allowed airlines to offer in-flight mobile-phone service, and several carriers have Wi-Fi.
Delta Airlines recently announced it was partnering with Amazon to provide passengers with free access to shop the online retail giant's website onboard all of Delta and Delta Connection flights with in-flight Wi-Fi service.
It was not the most adept early adopter of online ticketing, self-service airport kiosks or in-flight technology and entertainment.
Aircell says it has hosted more than two million in-flight Wi-Fi sessions since turning on the service in 2008, but has never released revenue figures or revealed subscriber numbers.
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When flights were delayed, the average delay was 55 minutes, down from 57 minutes in 2008, according to FlightStats, a flight-tracking service that collects data from airlines, airports and the Federal Aviation Administration.
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Just because Boeing decided to pull the plug on its Connexion service doesn't mean in-flight broadband has been grounded for good, with a company called ASiQ now promising to step in and fill the wireless void.
Alaska Airlines landed more than nine out of ten flights on-time in February, according to global flight and airport information service provider FlightStats, which tracks the performance of over 150, 000 flights per day from hundreds of airlines worldwide.
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Washington (CNN) -- As competition expands among airlines to offer passengers the latest in-flight entertainment options, intercontinental routes have been slow to add Internet service.
United's text analyzer looks for particular words and themes and can pick up on a customer reporting a seat where the in-flight entertainment didn't work, for example, said Martin Hand, senior vice president of customer service.
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