British explosives consultant Roland Alford created a stir when he told New Scientist magazine that Wi-Fi is a “Pandora’s box” for terrorists and that giving passengers Internet access “gives a bomber lots of options for contacting a device on an aircraft.”

A number of airline workers, security professionals and technologists say they agree that Wi-Fi can create serious security risks. The Association of Flight Attendants, for example, has asked the government to ban Wi-Fi.

Wi-fi is a tool, and a medium of exchange. And like many tools, it can be used for good or evil. A knife can be used to cut your food, or stab someone in the eye. A bottle of wine can be broken over someone’s head and used as a weapon. So, should restaurants ban knives? Eliminate wine from their menus?

What is the alternative universe the Association of Flight Attendants wants to see? Passengers strapped into their seats, windowshades shut, hooded, gagged, and perhaps even sedated?

Personally, I’m thankful for every time there’s wi-fi in flight. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea to be connected, but for long flights, I consider it a godsend. And while the Association of Flight Attendants may disapprove, I salute the airlines that expand their internet offerings, such as Lufthansa’s most recent reintroduction of internet access over the North Atlantic.

Hat tip: I’m not sure how I missed this when it first came out, but thankfully Jared Blank caught it.

It’s been nearly four years since Boeing shut down its satellite-based Connexion inflight-internet service. Lufthansa was a major customer, back in the day. Now, they’ve revived it, in partnership with Panasonic, and are once again dubbing it “FlyNet.”

The service is being rolled out first on “selected North Atlantic routes” — Frankfurt to New York-JFK, Detroit, and Atlanta, for starters — and is intended to be available globally by the end of 2011.

From the press release:

After opening the browser, they can automatically access the exclusive, free Lufthansa FlyNet portal, where they will find constantly updated news about economics, politics, sports and entertainment. Via this portal they can access the Internet service provided by Deutsche Telekom, which is to be paid from February 2011 on. Service provider information detailing the various billing options is available on this portal as well, including payment via credit card, via integrated roaming partners or by redeeming Miles & More award miles. The price for one hour’s online access is 10.95 euros or 3,500 miles, while the 24-hour flat rate is 19.95 euros or 7,000 miles. Under the 24-hour flat rate agreement, passengers can access the Internet on all Lufthansa connecting flights equipped with a hotspot during the period of validity as well as after the flight in Lufthansa lounges. Thanks to the introductory FlyNet offer, inflight Internet access will be available for free on FlyNet-equipped aircraft until January 31, 2011.

As an aside on the pricing structure: 7000 miles for 24 hours of access is ludicrously expensive. 19.95 euros — or around $26.50 at today’s exchange rates — is better value.

Also, notably: “In spring 2011, inflight data communication should also be possible using the mobile phone standards GSM and GPRS.” Data, not voice.

As Air Transport World notes, Turkish Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, Dragonair and Gulf Air have similar plans to launch inflight internet on long-range flights.

Nice to see connectivity expanded on long flights. Now, let’s hear about in-seat power throughout the plane…

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Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) today announced it will add onboard Wi-Fi to 223 regional jet aircraft operated by Delta Connection carriers, expanding by 40 percent the number of Delta aircraft featuring Gogo Inflight Internet service. Delta will be the first domestic carrier to deploy Wi-Fi across its entire mainline and regional aircraft fleets with two classes of service.
[...]
Installations of Wi-Fi on Delta Connection jets will begin in January and will be complete by the end of 2011. Once complete, customers flying on all Delta domestic flights with a First Class cabin will enjoy Wi-Fi access, including service on every Delta Shuttle flight between New York-LaGuardia and Boston, Chicago-O’Hare and Washington, D.C.
[...]
Delta Connection aircraft featuring First Class cabins include Embraer 175, Bombardier CRJ700 and Bombardier CRJ900 models operated by Delta Connection. The aircraft feature between nine and 12 seats in First Class and between 56 and 64 seats in Economy.

This is an interesting move. First, it makes the regional jet experience a little more tolerable, by providing an option for inflight entertainment or productivity that wasn’t there before. With regional jets traveling on routes that have traditionally been handled by larger aircraft, it’s good to see Delta making the regional jets a little more “real.”

But perhaps more interestingly, the introduction of wi-fi actually brings a product typically only found on mainline jets to the subcontractors. These aren’t Delta’s planes. Sure, they fly with the Delta logo, but flights labeled “Delta Connection” are operated by a litany of regional airlines.

The only downside, for the time being, is the lack of wi-fi on the smaller jets. Sure, some of those 50-seat CRJ’s and ERJ-145s are just going to fly from Atlanta to Savannah, but some of those planes are for two-hour flights, regrettably. The people in the flying soda cans need distractions, too!

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Upgraded: Inflight wi-fi on Southwest
Southwest is (finally) getting on the inflight wifi train (err, or plane…) and their price will be a relatively low $5 per connection, regardless of flight duration/distance or device used to connect.

Upgraded: Passion for AirTran’s first class seats
Fans of AirTran, which is being taken over by Southwest, have set up a website devoted to saving the first class seats that AirTran frequent fliers have grown accustomed to. Join the resistance at AirTranSOS.com.

Upgraded: Your cellphone as a key
The Clarion Hotel in Stockholm is the first hotel to install a cellphone-based room lock/key system. It’s a limited rollout, for starters. In theory, you’ll be able to check in by phone and walk straight to your room, bypassing the front desk, and avoiding the need for a room key. Neat, if it works.

Upgraded: Back-channel efforts to change our security theater
If existing efforts to change TSA policy have failed — and if the policy itself has continuously gotten worse for travelers — then perhaps a back-channel effort to effect change may be in order. Reader Ed sends in this open letter to the CEO of the Walt Disney Company. The letter-writer, Arthur Krolman, argues that Disney is tacitly endorsing TSA policy, and is thereby supporting the “nude photography or inspection of private parts” of children. Ouch. Will Disney take the bait ?…

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OnAir said it has reached a “multi-million dollar” contract with Singapore Airlines to deploy onboard telephony and Internet features for the carrier’s A380s, A340-500s and 777-300ERs, enabling passengers to make and receive voice calls, send text messages and e-mail. The carrier said it will be the first major airline in Asia to launch a “full suite” of inflight connectivity services. The service will be introduced “progressively” beginning “as early” as the first half of 2011. SIA was a customer for the Connexion by Boeing broadband solution withdrawn by Boeing in 2006.

The service would provide phone service, too, but not necessarily voice calls:

The airline said the service would allow SMS text messages with GSM-compatible phones and e-mails through smart phones, even at 35,000 feet in the air.

I’m glad to see another airline add internet access, especially on such long flights. If there’s anywhere you can use the internet to pass the time, it’s over the Pacific.

Now, it comes down to the price…

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Upgraded: Ubiquity of inflight wifi
Aircell, which markets inflight wifi under the Gogo brand name, has installed hotspots in its 1000th plane. Delta is closest to the finish line, with 527 out of 549 planes installed.

Upgraded: Bling
For those who’ve wondered what it’s like in the absolute highest-end (widebody) luxury jets, consider this slideshow of photographs by Nick Gleis, “who photographs the pimped up private jets that belong African dictators and other heads of state.” Enjoy the ultra-tacky comfort!

Did you see the news about Google adding free phone calls to Gmail chat? Will this mean we’ll be listening to more conversations on flights with wifi?

Google is indeed expanding its Google Voice product to the instant messenger built into Gmail.

But will the rollout of voice chat mean that you’ll find dozens of passengers screaming into their laptops? I doubt it.

Fears — including my own — that passengers are going to use the internet connection to use voice and video chat ad nauseam have not panned out.

True, Skype is blocked on most airlines, but there have been plenty of workarounds and alternate methods of making calls. And frankly, it hasn’t seemed like much of a problem. The cabin hasn’t turned into a big chatfest in my experience.

In part, that’s because of a low acceptance rate of inflight wifi — maxing out between 5 and 10% per enabled flight in one estimate. Blame the cost of the service — which isn’t necessarily crazy-high, but high enough to dissuade buyers — plus the lack of sufficient power supply and tight space constraints.

If the ubiquity of wi-fi hasn’t created an inflight cacophony of chatter, then I don’t think Gmail with voice chat will, either.

Upgraded: Pilots on the edge
Upgraded: Headline writing
Great headline for a post: “United Pilot Loses Cool, Pants.” Poorly-played, trouser-dropping United pilot. Well-played, BlackBook!

Upgraded: Smaller airports near large cities
Downgraded: Methodology
CheapFlights has released their list of the “cheapest airports” in America, and some smaller airports near(ish) larger cities are on the list. Burbank, Long Beach, Bellingham… no huge surprises. But these lists are perpetually flawed… who edited this thing? Chicago-Midway, Chicago-O’Hare, and Chicago-All Airports on the same list?! The “CHI” code doesn’t really count, guys…

Downgraded: Travel insurance in the UK
If you’re planning to buy travel insurance in the UK, prepare to pay an “ash tax.” Yes, a surcharge to cover prospective volcano ash delays and cancellations.

Upgraded: The ubiquity of opaque bookings
Expedia, which owns Hotwire, will be integrating Hotwire’s opaque (i.e., unnamed until purchase completed) hotel supply into the regular Expedia sales channel. Travelocity added “top secret hotels” back in March. I guess it’s Orbitz’ turn next?…

Upgraded: Yada, yada, yada
Remember the “YADA,” the roving check-in unit being tested by American Airlines last year? It’s coming to LAX.

John Battelle was sitting onboard a wi-fi enabled cross-country flight on United Airlines, and fired up video chat to wish his wife and kids a good night. (He stresses that he used headphones and the in-laptop microphone.) Then, mid-chat, a flight attendant told him to shut it down: “Security. Cameras not allowed!”

Since he was still wi-fi-enabled, but chat-restricted, Battelle fired up his inter-twitter-tubes, ran some searches, and asked if there were any legal restrictions against video chat.

Turns out there’s no federal policy against it. The closest you can find on the FAA website is this fact sheet:

While passengers are welcome to access the web, U.S. airlines offering WiFi service block the use of inflight calling using Skype or similar applications. This is not an FAA restriction; they are simply responding to the overwhelming majority of their customers, who prefer silent communications to the public nature of Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) calls.

And there’s the core of it: The airlines (and the wi-fi providers) can set their own policies. United, which uses the Gogo service by Aircell, specifies that voice over IP (VoIP) services are currently prohibited. Video chat — voice and video — falls under that.

The argument that phone calls and chats are banned out of respect for seatmates, I get. If an airline wants to ban chat, like banning IP calls, that’s their choice. But blaming that policy on security? Hardly.

The purser on Battelle’s flight argued that video chat was prohibited because it enabled terrorists to communicate with partners on the ground. Umm… and an e-mail or text message isn’t good enough for terrorists?

This is the kind of thing that drives me nuts: Airline staff making up rules, justifications, and regulations.

Redbox, the company that sets up DVD rental machines at supermarkets, drugstores, and convenience stores, has quietly been adding their machines at airports. For the same $1 per day rental fee, travelers can pick up a movie in one airport, watch the movie on the plane, and return the disc at any Redbox, at the airport or not.

Nashville, Milwaukee, and Grand Rapids have had them already for several months. Boston and Cincinnati were just added. Some airports have them before security; some have them both before and after security.

It’s a brilliant idea. Cheap last-minute inflight entertainment for those bringing a laptop or a portable DVD player. (Of course, you’ll need a device that plays a DVD (most netbooks don’t have an optical drive anymore) and if you plan ahead you might have something else at the ready.) And make sure your batteries are fully charged.

The company is also making deals with in-airport concessions. For example, at Cincinnati’s airport, buying a popcorn and soda combo at a vendor called Buckeyes & Bluegrass yields you a free DVD rental code. Expect more tie-ins like this.

My biggest beef with Redbox (which I’ve only accessed at my supermarket, not while traveling) has been the selection. Yes, they have some recent films, but there is too much straight-to-DVD junk in their inventory. I hope their airport locations have a more desirable selection, and remain well-stocked.