More Passengers Demanding High-Speed Wi-Fi When They Fly

Airline passengers are longing to stay connected at 30,000 feet. That’s one of the main findings of the latest Inflight Connectivity Survey conducted for Inmarsat, which found that 60 percent of flyers consider inflight Wi-Fi a necessity rather than a luxury.

Honeywell and Inmarsat are working together to bring the fastest, most reliable Wi-Fi to airline passengers the world over. Honeywell’s JetWave satellite communications system exclusively powers Inmarsat’s GX Aviation service. With JetWave and GX Aviation, passengers enjoy a Wi-Fi experience in the air that’s just as good as what they get on the ground.

Once they experience Wi-Fi that Flies, most survey participants are hooked. When choosing an airline, most global passengers (61 percent) who have tried high-quality inflight Wi-Fi rate it higher on their list of priorities than inflight entertainment.

The ability to connect their personal devices is now one of the top three things passengers consider when choosing an airline, ranking behind only ticket price and schedule.

Forty-four percent said they would stop using their preferred airline within the next year if it did not offer connected service that enables them to stream or browse online without interruption.

More than half of business travelers (56 percent) say that staying online to work during a flight improves their flying experience.

The survey reflects the responses of 9,000 airline passengers from 18 countries across North and Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific region. It is the largest global passenger survey of its kind.

“High-quality inflight Wi-Fi is changing the way people think about flying and how they spend their time in the air,” said Leo Mondale, President of Inmarsat Aviation. “Whether using the time to work, to connect with friends and family, or to pass time shopping or viewing entertainment, the availability of inflight broadband has become a major factor when choosing an airline.”

Check out the whole survey on the Inmarsat website.