Prepared for Takeoff? More Airports Offer Free Wifi

Airline fees have become so ubiquitous that the next step appears to be charging extra for a seat as opposed to standing room (an actually proposed by one airline in draft form but not yet approved for safety reasons). 

Airports, however, are moving in the opposite direction for at least one important service: wifi connections.

This decision comes with significant costs because providers paid the airport a fee and in some cases shared advertising revenue. But the rising airline fees and increasing traveler dissatisfaction, including that of the enterprises paying for their employees, may lead to potential declines in traffic as they seek alternatives such as enhanced video conferencing.

So the airports are providing free wifi in hopes of improving the customer experience. But they are also cognizant of the potential benefits inherent in offering a service which may attract a sufficient number of users to make it an attractive commercial proposition, especially given the demographics of the typical airline passenger, on average, better educated and more affluent than the general population. JL

Mike Tierney reports in the New York Times:

As airlines tack on fees for ever-fading courtesies, from checked baggage to advance seat selection, airports are headed in the opposite philosophical direction when it comes to Wi-Fi.

Steve Parker, sitting in the atrium at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport last week, was about to dig into his bag for a hot spot device when he noticed a poster nearby.

“Wi-Fi Before You Fly. Now Free,” it announced.

Saving a speck of time and trouble, Mr. Parker tapped directly into the service offered by the airport, where fliers without their own Wi-Fi alternative had paid $4.95 per day.

Minutes later, Mr. Parker, a contractor in the military industry from Rehoboth Beach, Del., declared the newly unveiled system “perfect — easy and painless.”

“All airports should do this,” he said.

Not all do, but the roll call of free arrangements — entirely at some airports, in combination with premium-paid levels at others — is growing, both domestically and abroad. As airlines tack on fees for ever-fading courtesies, from checked baggage to advance seat selection, airports are headed in the opposite philosophical direction when it comes to Wi-Fi.

Of the nation’s 30 busiest airports, 12 offer all-free Internet, up from nine in 2007, according to Boingo Wireless, a leading provider of airport wireless services. A dozen others opt for a tiered plan, with some free access. The shift is also playing out at smaller locations, where the financial and operational challenges are less daunting.

For much of society, free Wi-Fi has evolved into a something of a right, and the trend at airports is to treat it as an amenity no different from water fountains, trams and Muzak.

Hartsfield-Jackson’s general manager, Miguel Southwell, says an airport’s purpose extends beyond transporting sky-minded passengers to “being a catalyst for economic development.” A pleasant experience for travelers, which can include free Wi-Fi, could spawn fresh or expanded businesses.

“We want to exceed customer expectations,” Mr. Southwell said.

The fee-based format generated waves of dissatisfaction. Consumer surveys found that a third of Hartsfield-Jackson’s travelers identified the absence of free Wi-Fi as their primary complaint by a wide margin.

The switch comes at a steep initial price. Gone is $1.5 million in annual revenue from the pay service, along with $5.6 million appropriated by the Atlanta City Council to cover the design, equipment and installation.

Mayor Kasim Reed, who trumpeted the changeover at a news conference staged within a few paces of Mr. Parker and others hunched over their portable computers, voiced confidence that some lost revenue would be recouped through more spending at airport establishments. For now, users will be spared online advertising, but such mild annoyances, at least in the form of discount coupons at restaurants and stores, seem inevitable.

Some Wi-Fi regulars embrace the free service more to avoid the hassles than the cost. Airports that assess a fee require a credit card number and other information to be entered, as opposed to a couple of clicks with the no-charge approach.

“Passengers want to be able to select a network and go, not hunt to find the right set of options and buttons to click on,” said Seth Miller, an aviation analyst and blogger who is based in New York.

It is not the fees that dissuade typical business travelers from paying for Wi-Fi, said Chris McGinnis, a travel industry consultant. “They do so out of principle or inconvenience,” he said.

The free setups will make more honest users out of fliers, Mr. McGinnis added. Some are known to position themselves near airport lounges or airlines’ members-only clubs and use the Internet signals.

At Hartsfield-Jackson, Tim Lybrook was not an initial convert. Mr. Lybrook, who owns a telecom management company in Indianapolis and considers the nation’s airports his unofficial “residence,” failed in a first attempt at signing on.

“I guess that’s not what they want to hear,” Mr. Lybrook said of airport and city dignitaries standing close by as he fetched his air card.

A second try brought a better outcome. “It’s fine,” he said. “And fast.”

Because the customer load for free Wi-Fi by is as much as 10 times that for the pay version, speeds can become agonizingly slow at times. The bump in bandwidth consumption, and thus sluggishness, is even greater as passengers stream audio and videos.

Throw in ads, and “it can be almost so commercial and such a poor connection, it’s almost not worth logging on,” Mr. McGinnis said.

He applauded progress at his home airport, San Francisco International. But for Mary Kirby at her regular spot, Philadelphia International, only the price is right.

“The Wi-Fi is atrocious, if I’m able to access at all,” said Ms. Kirby, who edits an aviation news website. “They are completely capacity-constrained.”

Although she endorsed the drift toward no-cost Wi-Fi, Ms. Kirby added, “If offered a choice, many business travelers who need to work on the road would rather pay for a good service versus have a free service that performs poorly.”

At Hartsfield-Jackson, patrons have been promised no dropped connections. The system can accommodate 15,000 connections simultaneously because of considerably more access points, a significant upgrade from the 2,000 maximum with the fee design.

The airport, which estimates that 10,000 people roam the premises at any given time, reported smooth sailing on Monday, nearly a week after the switch-over. But during at least one period (Saturday morning), the Wi-Fi was so balky that some passengers unplugged out of frustration.

Alluding to the lack of advertisements and other online clutter, Mr. Southwell said, “This is the first real free Wi-Fi.”

He and Atlanta’s mayor consider the airport in competition with others, vying for business, and are aware how the community of fliers is eager to share tales of travel, gratifying or otherwise.

“Travelers are becoming more vocal in their demands, not only for connectivity but for it to be good service,” Mr. Miller, the blogger, said. “And they’re not shy about telling the world when they don’t get it.

“Of course, to do that on social media outlets does require finding a working connection first.”