AirCell LLC has signed American Airlines as the first U.S. carrier to test its high-speed broadband Internet access in flight.
AirCell, which has been based in Louisville, recently established headquarters for its wireless operation in Itasca, Ill., but it maintains operations in Louisville.
“From an airline-support basis, being around O’Hare (International Airport in Chicago) in the center of the country made a lot of sense in putting some of our assets there,” said AirCell chief executive Jack Blumenstein.
The company has grown from close to 50 employees last year to about 80 in Louisville and 200 companywide.
American signed a memorandum of intent to test AirCell’s technology and offer high-speed Internet access in 2008 on American’s 15 Boeing 767-200 aircraft flying mostly transcontinental routes.
The access will be available in all classes of the aircraft for a variety of prices, with a basic fee of about $10 for a single session, according to Blumenstein.
American expects the service to be particularly valuable to business travelers as airlines compete to offer more technological extras in flight.
The plan is to offer a high-speed Internet connection, VPN access and e-mail through Wi-Fi-enabled laptops and personal devices.
If it is successful, American could add the technology to the rest of its domestic fleet.
AirCell is offering the technology through an exclusive Federal Communications Commission license it won last year for $31.3 million.
AirCell expects to grow its Colorado operations by another 25 to 30 percent and move to a new facility in the corridor from Denver to Boulder.
Frontier, Southwest, United and other carriers have indicated their interest in in-flight Wi-Fi.
The potential use of AirCell’s technology for cellphone use in flight has been limited by a federal ban and social backlash.
Staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi can be reached at 303-954-1488 or kyamanouchi@denverpost.com.
