United Airlines adds e-mail for U.S. flights

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United Airlines and Verizon Airfone announced June 17 that United is the first U.S. commercial carrier to offer two-way e-mail capability via Verizon Airfone JetConnect Service on its U.S. domestic flights. JetConnect is an in-flight e-mail, instant messaging and text messaging service, which costs $15.98 per flight, plus 10 cents for every kilobyte after the first two kilobytes. |ret||ret||tab|

United has offered JetConnect service on select 767 domestic aircraft since December 2002, but the airline is expanding to the JetConnect with e-mail service across its entire domestic fleet by the end of 2003. Airfone uses Tenzing Communications as its JetConnect e-mail service provider. |ret||ret||tab|

"The availability of e-mail is critical to business flyers ," said Bill Pallone, president of Verizon Airfone. "The impact on in-flight productivity is tremendous; for this reason, users have said access to JetConnect will determine which airline they'll choose. This will significantly enhance the passengers' experience." |ret||ret||tab|

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How it works|ret||ret||tab|

Customers access JetConnect by plugging their laptops into jacks on the Verizon Airfone handsets. No software downloads or changes to connections are needed; passengers just use their standard dialup routine to link to JetConnect. |ret||ret||tab|

Verizon Airfone and Tenzing conducted service trials on United aircraft in May, and will continue installation ramp up throughout the summer. |ret||ret||tab|

Initially, JetConnect with e-mail will be available to frequent business travelers who use POP3, Microsoft Exchange via Outlook Web access and Lotus Notes via POP. Additional ISPs will eventually be supported as well. |ret||ret||tab|

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