Internet on a Plane

I have been traveling a lot with recent trips to Alaska, Mexico, and Hawaii. This has given me the chance to test Internet conditions for a lot of different environments including on a cruise ship. I spend all day working in front of a computer and while the device is important, an Internet connection is usually required to remain effective.

So why do I need an Internet connection? I spend a lot of time communicating with my fellow employees. E-mail is good for this but I also use Microsoft Teams and the messaging included with it. I can live without those connections for only a short amount of time before people begin to worry. I also spend a lot of time working on shared documents. While I may have a local copy that I can edit on a plane, it sure is nice to have my changes seen immediately by others working on the document also.

Delta Airlines has started offering free Internet connections to all of the passengers that are members of their frequent flyer program. You don't have be any special status to use the service, just a member of the program. I gave it a try on a recent trip and discovered it works well. Unfortunately you cannot make voice or video calls but you can use it for e-mail, instant messaging, and editing shared documents. Delta claims that it is fast enough to watch a streaming movie and so I don't see why one wouldn't be able to use it for video calls other than the FAA regulation that prohibits it. I did notice the service felt choppy in some instances and I am not sure how the upload speed is so it may be a prohibiting factor.

I also had the chance to check out Alaska Airline's Internet service on my recent trip to Hawaii. While I flew out on a Sunday, I returned on a Thursday and worked on the plane as I flew home. I made sure to let my boss know I wouldn't be available for a meeting during my flight time. Unfortunately the service is not free for everyone. As a T-mobile customer, I had an hour of free Internet service which I never tried. However I did set up texting from my phone and remained in contact with people during the flight.

The overall lesson learned from using Internet on a plane is that as long as I don't have any meetings, it is a viable option to remain productive. Unfortunately for me, I generally have meetings daily and so it is probably impossible to take a day to fly somewhere and count it as a work day. That is something I will need to remember as I make plans for future travel.