Source: Chicago Tribune
Author: Wailin Wong

United Airlines has started Wi-Fi service on flights between New York and California, allowing passengers to surf the Web on their laptops and mobile devices.

The first United flight using Itasca-based Aircell's Gogo service took place Friday, said airline spokeswoman Robin Urbanski. The plane was the first of 13 Boeing 757s that will be equipped with Wi-Fi by mid-November.

Urbanski said the airline will use customer feedback from the rollout to see whether it makes sense to expand Wi-Fi service. On the United flights between New York and California, Gogo costs $12.95 for laptops and $7.95 for Wi-Fi-enabled hand-held devices such as BlackBerrys. Passengers cannot make cell-phone calls or use Voice over Internet Protocol applications.

Many other airlines are rushing to provide Wi-Fi service on their flights. AirTran has Gogo available on all 136 planes of its fleet, while Delta Air Lines and American Airlines plan to have Gogo on hundreds of planes within the next couple of years.

Southwest Airlines, meanwhile, is testing Wi-Fi service from a company called Row 44, which uses satellite technology.