Free Wifi Holiday brought to you by several Airports and Virgin Airlines

Airports Blog is now part of the Airport and Airlines information at the QuickAid.com Airport Directory:http://quickaid.com/airports-blog/ |Airport Information | Airports Blog

Free WIFI is available through January 15 on Virgin Airlines and at over 50 participating airports over the holidays. http://www.freeholidaywifi.com/

As we've noted before, Airports like McCarran Las Vegas LAS and Portland Oregon PDX are wonderful to provide this great service to those of us who .... get bored in Airports and don't appreciate paying $9.95 or more to simply surf aimlessly for an hour or (heaven forbid!) get some work done.

WiFi in Flight Regulations may be hampering more rapid deployments

Travel Weekly reports that In Flight WiFi remains a very desirable amenity for travelers but is causing some headaches for carriers as they navigate the maze of regulations involved in WiFi enabling of commercial aircraft:

Passengers' growing appetite for electronic gadgets and WiFi access is creating problems for airlines eager to sate that appetite. The challenge lies in enforcing myriad company policies and federal laws covering wireless communications.

As airlines test and equip their planes for in-flight WiFi, they have to figure out how to catch people using prohibited devices (or approved devices at the wrong time) with no practical means of detecting radio-based technologies that can operate out of sight in briefcases, carry-on bags or even pockets.

More In Flight WiFi Launches

Another in flight WIFI service is available and the New York Times is reporting that it is not allowing Skype calls:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/business/14essay.html

I don't see this as a big deal though it's not clear to me why they'd care much. Perhaps a security issue because it's easier to screen text such that TSA could identify suspicious activity more easily using automated routines at the ISP level.

In any case this is a great boon to business travelers who now can have uptime throughout the flight, especially at the critical time right before and after key meetings and conferences.

American Airlines Testing In Flight Broadband

Flight Delays? Bad meals? who cares as long as you have In-Flight Broadband, arguably the most important amenity an airline could ever offer.

American Airlines is testing the service now and unless they overprice it I think it'll be a big winner, though in flight *power* is going to be a problem for many if the Airlines don't take that into account as well.

Gogo to launch in flight broadband on some transcontinental routes

Om Malik reports that Gogo will have broadband on some American and Virgin flights from San Francisco to NYC soon.

Gogo certainly deserves an award for the most overhyped intro clip in some time here:
http://www.gogoinflight.com/

In flight broadband is a great idea for business and perhaps student travelers and I'm looking forward to it but it's not at all clear to me that most travelers will see enough benefit to fork over $10 per flight so they can pull the daily toll of work emails and spam or surf during the in flight movie. That said I'm rooting for ya Gogo!