Airlines adding wireless Internet

FORT WORTH, Texas, June 25 (UPI) -- An Arizona research firm says selling in-flight wireless Internet access could add as much as $1 billion annually to airline coffers by 2012.

The estimate by MultiMedia Intelligence comes as American Airlines on Wednesday unveiled a free sneak peak of its new Internet service called Gogo, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

The Texas airline is previewing Gogo on planes leaving John F. Kennedy Airport in New York for San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami.

American, which has equipped all 15 of its Boeing 767-200 planes for Internet access, plans a broader test of the service within a few weeks, the Star-Telegram said.

The airline says it will charge passengers $12.95 to use Gogo on flights lasting longer than three hours and $9.95 for shorter trips.

"We've been looking at broadband Internet for years," Doug Backelin of American told the Star-Telegram. "Customers, particularly business travelers, are very interested in having this."

Southwest Airlines, Virgin America and Alaska Airline are all working on similar service, the newspaper said.