A pillow and blanket on JetBlue: $7. Booking a flight by phone or in person with Delta: $25. Sending an unaccompanied minor on Southwest: $25.
And now comes a charge that the airlines hope you might not cringe at: an in-flight wireless Internet connection fee.
The race is on among the nation’s largest airlines to install the circuitry that lets passengers go wireless.
Southwest Airlines announced last month that it is moving ahead with plans to install satellite-enabled broadband in its entire fleet by early next year. It is using Row 44, a private technology company based in Westlake Village, Calif. Southwest has yet to announce a pricing plan.
Last month, Delta said it had installed Wi-Fi in more than 70 percent of its domestic fleet. American Airlines also announced in August that it had installed Wi-Fi in 100 MC-80 planes, with plans to install the service on another 50 airplanes by year’s end.
What makes airlines believe passengers will pay up to $12.95 to check e-mail, update a Facebook status and tweet? A survey by the Wi-Fi industry suggests that most business travelers will pick an airline with Wi-Fi over those with meals, free movies or easy arrival times.
The survey, commissioned by the Wi-Fi Alliance, a nonprofit industry group, found 76 percent of the 480 frequent business travelers interviewed would choose an airline based on the availability of in-flight Internet service. About 55 percent said they would shift their flight by a day if it meant getting Wi-Fi.
But high-flying Wi-Fi hasn’t caught on big as yet. On Virgin America, the first U.S. airline to offer Wi-Fi throughout its fleet, between 10 percent and 15 percent of its passengers use it. It peaks to 25 percent on transcontinental flights.
Virgin uses Wi-Fi services by Aircell, an Illinois company that provides mobile broadband for eight airlines.
Pricing on most airlines rises with the length of the flight. Aircell charges between $5.95 for flights lasting 90 minutes or less to $12.95 for flights longer than three hours. JetBlue plans to offer free e-mail and instant messaging later this year.
