Southwest Airlines to offer Free In-Flight Wi-Fi to its Rapid Rewards Members

In the latest attempt to offer your information to access the Internet, Southwest Airlines and T-Mobile have announced a new partnership delivering free unlimited WiFi for all Rapid Rewards Members

This programme kicks off on the 24th October 2205.

All Southwest Rapid Rewards Customers, regardless of their wireless provider, will be able to access free WiFi for the duration of their flight and at no cost. Passengers will need to sign up for a Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards account before they fly or in-flight to gain access to free internet connectivity.

Recently, Southwest tested free fleetwide WiFi for Rapid Rewards Members, with the results showing a strong customer satisfaction score from those Customers who used the free WiFi service. Southwest is continuing to invest in the product to offer a reliable and well-performing experience.

Currently, Southwest Airlines obtains its coverage for its fleet from Anunvu and Viasat (with new installs featuring Viasat equipment). These installations cover a fleet of more than 800 aircraft.

In Quotes

Tony Roach, Executive Vice President, Chief Customer & Brand Officer at Southwest Airlines, said

“We are focused on making sure our Customers have a great experience from the time they book a flight to the time they reach their destination,”

 “We’re pleased to partner with T-Mobile to bring free WiFi to all Rapid Rewards Members. This is part of our ongoing commitment to elevate the cabin experience, with free WiFi being just one of the many enhancements Customers will see in the months ahead.”

Mike Katz, President of Marketing, Strategy and Products at T-Mobile, added

“We’re teaming up with Southwest to make staying connected in the air easier for millions of travelers,”

“We’re excited for Rapid Rewards Members to experience free in-flight WiFi from takeoff to landing – no strings, no surprises. It’s just one more way we’re helping make travel a little smoother.”

And all it will cost is a little information.

We come to the balance point of what you are prepared to hand over to get access to the internet – a model we’ve seen in countless other places, be it coffee shops, offices, hotels… the list goes on.

As the passenger, you provide your details and such to the airline, and you get Wi-Fi connectivity back. For the airline, you get the information about who is accessing your coverage, how often, bandwidth and anything else that you agreed to share in the terms and conditions.

And yes, I’m sure every person has read the terms and conditions/acceptable use policy of a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Nonetheless, this will be a big change, given that Southwest charges $8 a session, which will add additional pressure to the Anunvu and Viasat constellations, given that these are both Geosynchronous Earth Orbit providers.

It will be interesting to see how both perform with this additional pressure on their networks.

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