American hanging up on in-flight phones
Airline says the service is ''no longer profitable''; low use, cellphones cited
12/25/2002
By KATIE FAIRBANK / The Dallas Morning News
American Airlines Inc. has hung up its in-flight phone service. There will be no more calls home from 35,000 feet.
Even so, passengers should expect to see the handsets stuck in their seat backs for some time.
It takes quite a bit of work to remove these phones, said John Hotard, a spokesman for the Fort Worth-based airline. You have to take out the seats and take out all the wiring. You might think you could just cut it out and leave the wiring behind, but you can''t. It''s an airplane. It''s not that easy.
American''s parent company, AMR Corp., said it will remove the AT&T Wireless phones during regular maintenance work. That could take a couple of years, Mr. Hotard said.
The phones were once a favorite of business travelers, but their popularity waned as cellphones became popular, American officials say.
And when the Federal Aviation Administration allowed passengers to use their cellphones before the plane doors closed at takeoff and after the doors opened when the plane landed, in-flight phone usage really dropped.
Plus, cellphone calls are usually cheaper. The in-flight phone calls cost about $4 a minute.
It all really cut down the usage of the onboard phones, Mr. Hotard said. It was no longer profitable to keep the service.
American isn''t alone in dropping in-flight phones. Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. removed them a couple of years ago after noticing that people weren''t using them often.
Two things happened – the usage was so low, coupled with the fact that the FAA relaxed its cellphone use rules. With the majority of our flights about an hour long, there wasn''t a need to have a phone in flight for that period of time, said Southwest spokeswoman Linda Rutherford.
Houston-based Continental Airlines Inc. is flying the other direction.
We still have a demand for the service, spokesman Rahsaan Johnson said. In fact, on our [Boeing] 757 fleet, we''ve begun adding to the capabilities of the air phone service.
Continental also offers JetConnect Service, which allows access to some Web sites. There''s a $3.99 connection fee, and the service costs $3.99 per minute.
Customers aren''t yet able to access the entire Web, but through that service will be able to get news and information that is updated every 15 minutes, Mr. Johnson said. The bottom line is we''re finding not only does there seem to be a demand for the phone service, but also for even greater connectivity between customers in the air and services on the ground.
Dawn Deeks, a spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants, said she hasn''t noticed that anyone is missing the phones.
I fly a lot, and I''ve never seen anybody even use them, she said.
Airline says the service is ''no longer profitable''; low use, cellphones cited
12/25/2002
By KATIE FAIRBANK / The Dallas Morning News
American Airlines Inc. has hung up its in-flight phone service. There will be no more calls home from 35,000 feet.
Even so, passengers should expect to see the handsets stuck in their seat backs for some time.
It takes quite a bit of work to remove these phones, said John Hotard, a spokesman for the Fort Worth-based airline. You have to take out the seats and take out all the wiring. You might think you could just cut it out and leave the wiring behind, but you can''t. It''s an airplane. It''s not that easy.
American''s parent company, AMR Corp., said it will remove the AT&T Wireless phones during regular maintenance work. That could take a couple of years, Mr. Hotard said.
The phones were once a favorite of business travelers, but their popularity waned as cellphones became popular, American officials say.
And when the Federal Aviation Administration allowed passengers to use their cellphones before the plane doors closed at takeoff and after the doors opened when the plane landed, in-flight phone usage really dropped.
Plus, cellphone calls are usually cheaper. The in-flight phone calls cost about $4 a minute.
It all really cut down the usage of the onboard phones, Mr. Hotard said. It was no longer profitable to keep the service.
American isn''t alone in dropping in-flight phones. Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. removed them a couple of years ago after noticing that people weren''t using them often.
Two things happened – the usage was so low, coupled with the fact that the FAA relaxed its cellphone use rules. With the majority of our flights about an hour long, there wasn''t a need to have a phone in flight for that period of time, said Southwest spokeswoman Linda Rutherford.
Houston-based Continental Airlines Inc. is flying the other direction.
We still have a demand for the service, spokesman Rahsaan Johnson said. In fact, on our [Boeing] 757 fleet, we''ve begun adding to the capabilities of the air phone service.
Continental also offers JetConnect Service, which allows access to some Web sites. There''s a $3.99 connection fee, and the service costs $3.99 per minute.
Customers aren''t yet able to access the entire Web, but through that service will be able to get news and information that is updated every 15 minutes, Mr. Johnson said. The bottom line is we''re finding not only does there seem to be a demand for the phone service, but also for even greater connectivity between customers in the air and services on the ground.
Dawn Deeks, a spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants, said she hasn''t noticed that anyone is missing the phones.
I fly a lot, and I''ve never seen anybody even use them, she said.
00 PM TWAnr wrote: 
