Why Airlines and Airports Alike Need to Embrace Free Wi-Fi

You're going to be able to access the internet everywhere some day soon, without having to pay for it. You know that. We know that. The Finns know that. So do airlines and airports. It's only a matter of when. Tony Tyler, Director General and CEO of IATA feels it's high-time that airports got around to giving passengers free, easy to access, Wi-Fi at all terminals around the world. He said so at the SITA IT Summit last week, when addressing attendees. Skift was present and asked Tyler whether he believed airlines should offer free Wi-Fi on board to passengers, and that was when Tyler's forward-thinking moment passed. "No," he replied, appearing annoyed with our silly question. The argument, not only by Tyler but from others present, was that comparing Wi-Fi at airports to Wi-Fi on planes wasn't apples-to-iPhones. Infrastructure to provide Wi-Fi on aircraft, we were told, is much more complicated than infrastructure to provide Wi-Fi in airport terminals. A helpful member of the audience wrote us, via Twitter, that rocket launches are involved; but was unable to satisfactorily answer a follow-up question, via Twitter, on whether fees paid by passengers for Wi-Fi cover the costs of those rocket launches. A member of the audience, who identified himself as United Airlines, replied that airlines do provide free Wi-Fi; giving as his example passengers who crowd the terminal area around the United Airlines Lounges, so they can use the lounge Wi-Fi intended for lounge customers. These are the times we live in -- when ordinary decent people can't count on keeping