Boeing Connexion Heading for a Crash Landing?

A while back, I wrote about the in-flight internet service that Boeing has been testing on some of their international flights.  According to a Reuter’s article released yesterday, Boeing may be considering selling or closing the unit.  The service has yet to turn a profit and Boeing has reportedly invested around $1 billion into the service over the past 6 years.

Kevin Tofel from jkOnTheRun writes about how he got along fine without internet access on his recent 2.5 hour flight and questions the productivity gains from an in-flight internet service.  I agree that for shorter flights, it is probably not very useful, but for flights longer than 4 hours, I can see much benefit.  Whenever I take a flight across the country, I always feel a little bit behind in my email and work because I have lost most of the day.  An in-flight internet service would help me stay productive and help the time pass more quickly.  I think the main problem with the Connexion service is that it is priced too high.  Most people are used to the prices they are charged from wi-fi hotspots such as Starbucks.  If Boeing could get closer to those prices, I believe that a lot more people would use the service.

Let’s hope Boeing figures out a better way to market their internet services, price the services, and get the services on more flights that are over 4 or 5 hours.