Allan Booth surfs the Internet with a wireless connection while waiting for his Delta Air Lines flight at Vancouver International Airport, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Oct. 6. United Airlines, which had the worst on-time performance in August among the major carriers, announced plans to start its own Internet service next year at 30 airports. A Panacea David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, a travel advocacy group, sees the move as a panacea for growing bottlenecks at America's airports. Clearly, to make that time more productive, it's a tremendous benefit for passengers.
Some travelers agree.
Wireless access would be dynamite. Delta and United are partners with Aerzone, a San Francisco company backed by major electronic industry players like Nokia Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc., to provide wireless local area networks, or LANs, at airport lounges, gates and terminals. Proper Equipment Required Passengers wanting to use these new services will need a laptop with the right wireless modem. Only the latest laptops are equipped. Within the past two weeks, major laptop makers such as IBM and Dell have started manufacturing computers that need no extra hardware to handle wireless connections.