Service on JetBlue's "BetaBlue" Flight 641 -- an Airbus A320 specially equipped with an onboard wireless network -- was "a little buggy and limited," the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

CNET blogger Caroline McCarthy said in a report she filed from "somewhere over Louisville, Ky.," that she had to try connecting several times and found maintaining a connection was tricky.

The complimentary WiFi service lets passengers with WiFi-enabled laptops send and receive instant messages and e-mail using customized versions of Yahoo Messenger and Yahoo Mail Mobile. Travelers with new WiFi-enabled BlackBerry smartphones could access their corporate and personal e-mail while in flight.

The low-fare carrier, a pioneer in in-flight entertainment, worked for months with Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) and Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ:RIMM) to create the service.

The BetaBlue plane will fly for several months to test the system and solicit passenger feedback. If all goes well, the No. 8 U.S. airline by traffic said it hoped to install the WiFi system on its entire fleet.

Other airlines have similar services in the works.