JetBlue launches inflight Wi-Fi, promising a home broadband experience in the sky

It’s taken a while for JetBlue to get its long-promised Wi-Fi service ready, but its passengers likely will feel it was worth the wait. The airline launched FlyFi, an inflight internet service JetBlue claims will be the first to deliver a broadband experience akin to home connectivity. But that’s not the half of it: JetBlue is also giving away basic access to the network free to all passengers.

While other airlines use Gogo’s ground-to-air connectivity or Row 44’s satellite links, JetBlue has held out for one of the advanced broadband connections in the skies: ViaSat’s next-generation satellite, which beams a constant 140 Gbps link to the ground. JetBlue isn’t tapping all of that capacity, according to Jamie Perry, JetBlue’s director of product development, but JetBlue isn’t rate-limited like other airlines. As more passengers sign on to use the service, overall network speeds won’t decline for all users. Instead ViaSat will pump more capacity into the aircraft, ensuring a decent broadband.