Airports scurry to fulfill wireless needs of travelers New services make it easier to use laptops, handheld computers
Copyright 2000 Gannett Company, Inc.
USA TODAY
Byline: Salina Khan
December 13, 2000, Wednesday, FIRST EDITION
Click here to see the Abstract on USA Today's website.
Airports are rapidly adding wireless services so that travelers
can check e-mail, surf the Internet and check in for flights without
standing in line.
Over the next few months, many airports plan to install equipment
to help growing numbers of travelers packing wireless-ready laptops,
cellphones and handheld computers.
A sign of the trend's momentum: A trade association has sprung
up to promote consistency among airports experimenting with a
variety of technologies. The Wireless Airport Association will
hold its first meeting next month.
"It's changing so quickly you can't afford to wait or else you're
going to be caught flat-footed," says the association's Brad
Van Dam.
New developments target:
Laptops. Travelers using laptops with wireless ethernet
cards can get free wireless Internet access at Seattle, Dallas/Fort
Worth and Austin, Texas, airports through Dec. 31. Airline clubrooms,
airport gate areas and other public spaces have all been made
wireless-ready. Wayport, an Austin-based Internet service provider,
installed the equipment in the airports and plans to equip five
more by mid-2001.
Frequent business traveler Jeff Eller of Austin says he's more
productive on the road because of Wayport's service.
"I don't have to hunt around to find a place to plug in," Eller
says. "I can virtually do everything in the airport I can do
in my office."
Aerzone of San Francisco expects to equip Denver, San Francisco,
Dallas/Fort Worth and Jacksonville, Fla., airports for wireless
Internet access by mid-2001. It will begin rolling out service
to Delta Air Lines Crown Room Clubs in January.
Handheld computers. Starting in January, the Pittsburgh
airport will provide free public access to equipment for downloading
e-mail and other information from the Internet to Palms, Handspring
Visors or Sony CLIE handheld computers.
The equipment, provided by AdAlive, will be attached to billboard
ads in the airport. Travelers can point their handhelds at the
billboards, marked with a red "i," to access content that can
be downloaded. AdAlive plans to expand the service to other airports
next year.
Waiting time. To speed check-in lines at the San Jose,
Calif., airport, American Airlines provides its gate agents with
wireless handhelds and portable printers. Agents can check in
and issue boarding passes to travelers in gate waiting areas.
Handhelds let agents change seat assignments, but they cannot
give seat upgrades.
American plans to expand the service to Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth
and New York's JFK airport within a month.
Travel technology company Sabre says it is working with an unnamed
airline and a company called Impulsity on a way for travelers
to get boarding passes on their own wireless devices. A test could
begin as early as next month.
But wireless Internet access in airplane cabins may be more distant.
One airline plans to test such a service on flights from Scandinavia
early next year.
