For an airline that has done a good job of avoiding inflight entertainment like the plague, Southwest sure is diving right in when it comes to wireless internet service. The deal is done and wifi will start rolling out aggressively next quarter.

Don’t get me wrong. They’ve been incredibly slow in actually getting to this point, but from now on, it’s going into overdrive. There are currently four test planes outfitted with wifi, but it’s been that way for about a year now. That’s one long test period.

Southwest has now signed an equipment purchase agreement and that means two things:

1) Wifi provider Row 44 is peeing its pants with joy now that it has a huge paying customer

2) The last hurdle between Southwest and the rollout is gone

Beginning in the second quarter of this year, Southwest will start outfitting a plane every other day. They hope to ramp that up to 25 per month soon after. With around 550 airplanes in the fleet, it’s going to take them about 2 years to get it completely done. When it’s done, however, they’ll be one of the largest wifi providers in the sky.

How much will they charge? They aren’t saying just yet. According to their blog, “We’re still testing a variety of price points on the four aircraft that currently have wi-fi. We’ll have a decision on price in the second quarter of 2010 . . . .”

Fair enough, but I think it’s safe to assume that the Business Select crowd won’t pay a dime while the rest of the herd will have to pay something. We just don’t know what yet. Heck, if they can get enough advertising revenue from a sponsor, maybe they’ll go that way from time to time. The good news is that they have complete and total control of the content, so they can do pretty much whatever they want on that end. That’s why they went with Row 44’s satellite option even though the ground-based option from AirCell would have fit their network just fine.

For Southwest, this is the perfect technology. They’ve long avoided inflight entertainment because it adds cost. Airlines haven’t been able to charge for overhead movies for a long time, and in-seat video is costly. It’s not just the content but also the weight and the extra pieces that can break in each seat. It’s just not a Southwest way of doing things. But wifi is different. It does add a little weight, but it only gets installed in one place so you don’t run the risk of having a problem at every seat.

More importantly, the test they’ve been running apparently shows them that they can make money on this, or at least make it cost neutral. (I have to assume that’s what the test showed.) That means that for the customers, it’s a nice perk that they’re willing to pay for. It also helps business people with productivity (even if they don’t want it, but that’s another story).

This combined with Business Select and Earlybird boarding makes it sound like Southwest is once again trying to The Company Plane for more and more people.

My first use of wifi onboard Virgin America last month made me realize something. My laptop is way too big. Ok, maybe the seat pitch is way too small, but either way it presents a problem. I want something smaller, especially now that Cranky Concierge is starting to take off (more than 50 clients so far) and I need to be in touch. Sony recently gave me the chance to take a netbook for a spin, and I think the netbook is going to be the way to go.

Believe it or not, the idea of finding a smaller laptop is not anything new. My current laptop with the 15.4″ screen (on the right) is actually much smaller than the absurdly large desktop replacement I had before. But now, I want to shrink again. Somehow I got on Sony’s press distribution list, and I saw a release for their P series. I sent a note to them asking for more info and they actually sent me a loaner version for 2 weeks. Cool.

This thing is an absolute rock star, but for that reason, it’s not cheap. It’s tiny, but it’s also powerful. The P Series has an 8 inch screen and it weighs only 1.4 pounds. That’s just silly.

My biggest fear was that the keyboard would be too small to be useful, but it actually was a piece of cake for typing. My only problem is that the Page Up/Page Down keys were difficult to use, and as a frequent tab flipper in Firefox, that was a pain. But typing wasn’t tough at all.

Don’t think that this is some mini-PC on the inside. It’s pretty damn powerful. It uses an Intel Atom processor between 1.33 to 2 GHz depending on the version. All versions have 2 gigs of RAM and anywhere from 80 gigs to 256 gigs of storage. The version they sent me was top of the line and instead of a hard drive actually has a solid state drive. No fan, no moving parts, just awesomeness. This was also my first look at Windows 7, and it ran with ease.

There are a couple of USB ports to hook into, and there’s a built-in camera. Of course, there is a wireless card, but even more interesting is that there is a Verizon mobile card built-in as well. If you want to sign up with Verizon, you can access the internet anywhere there’s Verizon service. The battery lasts up to 3.5 hours, but there is an extended life one you can get as well.

I’ve been using a touchpad for a long time now, so I was afraid that the little pointer stick thingy would be annoying. They’ve really improved these things since I first had one about 10 years ago. You can now tap on the pointer to click, and there’s a third button that you can use to scroll. In other words, you can do just about everything you can do with a touchpad.

As the pictures show, “tiny” is an understatement. This makes other netbooks look large and clunky. I took it with me everywhere, and I had plenty of googly-eyed stares from people wanting to touch it and play with it. It’s definitely a head turner. So what’s not to like?

It ain’t cheap. The base level costs $850. The cheapest solid state drive unit is $1000, and the one I tested is a whopping $1900. Considering that other netbooks start around $300, that’s going to hurt its market size. But those other netbooks are larger, clunkier, and at the $300 pricepoint, slower. It’s the small size that really grabbed me and has me seriously considering buying one.

If I get one, it would the $1000 solid state drive model, but can I justify it? I’m still working that out, but man do I want it. Anyone have netbooks they love or hate? Chime in below.

[Sony P-Series information]

As I mentioned in my post last night, I was able to take a ride on a beautiful Grumman Albatross owned by Row 44, the company that is just beginning to ramp up its satellite-based wifi service. What was even more incredible is that I sat in the bubble nose for departure and took some amazing video (see below).. But it wasn’t all just fun – there was plenty of talk about onboard wifi choices as well. It proved to be a very interesting discussion.

Earlier in the day, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly and Continental CEO (for now) Larry Kellner were on an airline CEO panel at NBTA (at left). I also had the chance to speak with Gary later on. Both times, the topic of wifi came up. I wondered why Southwest had chosen the satellite-based system from Row 44 when their flights could all have been handled by AirCell’s ground-based network in the US.

The reason that really struck me was that Southwest has more control with Row 44. See, AirCell brands their service as GoGo and they set the pricing and keep the branding their own. With Row 44, Southwest keeps the branding and they get to set pricing and determine how revenues will work. Everything I’ve heard is that Row 44 is more costly, but it appears that Southwest finds that worthwhile because of the extra control they have.

At the end of the day, I stopped at the Southwest booth when someone recognized me from my Halloween judging in Dallas. Next thing I know, I’m being invited to go for a ride with Row 44 on N44HQ, a Grumman Albatross built in 1951 and previously used for search and rescue as well as astronaut training. Done deal.

Even though it was a seaplane, we were flying from San Diego’s Lindbergh Field thanks to problems with getting permission from the locals to operate on water. That was too bad, but we still had an incredible time.

The nosecone isn’t a nosecone at all but rather a clear bubble for surveillance from the airplane’s previous life. As we hopped on board, I grabbed a seat until being told that I could ride up front. I snuck in underneath the pilot’s seat and found myself laying on an old blanket with my head on a pillow in the nose. Yes, I stayed there for takeoff and took this video.

When we came back to earth, the sun was setting and I had a chance to talk with Row 44 CEO John Guidon. He echoed much of what I already discussed with Gary Kelly, but he also threw out some figures. He said that on average, about a third of people onboard have wifi-enabled devices with them. When the service is free, he said that most people just log right on. But when a fee is added (any fee, no matter how small), only about a quarter to a third of people with devices log on for longer flights. That’s only about 8 to 11% take rate.

This is why John hopes to see an ad-supported model in the long run where passengers don’t need to pay. I asked about the expensive cost of bandwidth, but he seemed confident that ads could still pay for this. Of course, that will be the airline’s decision as long as they go with Row 44.

Personally, I have to wonder about the financial viability of all this. There’s a lot of money going into this effort, and I have to wonder where these wifi companies are getting all this cash. If it’s debt, then it’s going to be tough to pay it all off. But ultimately it doesn’t matter for the customer. If a company goes bust, someone will buy the remains and get the thing started again.

I’m at the National Business Travel Association (NBTA) conference this week, and I spent awhile chatting with the folks at AirCell (provider of wifi fun) yesterday. That made me think it was a good time for a wifi update, especially since there has been so much news lately.

Delta and American continue to make progress while Southwest has announced it’s outfitting the full fleet. But the fleet coverage numbers that airlines throw out can be misleading, so I thought I’d break it down further.

Let’s start with this chart showing what percent of the fleet currently has wifi installed by airline.

You’ll notice that these numbers look WAY different from what the airlines tell you. For example, Delta just announced that it was north of 70% but I’m showing 16%. What gives? Well, Delta has it installed on 70% of the pre-merger mainline fleet. In this number, I’ve included the Northwest fleet and the vast fleet of Delta Connection regional jets and props that have no wifi at all. While the regional fleet probably won’t see wifi, the first Northwest aircraft goes in for modification on 10/1.

AirTran and Virgin America remain the only airlines with 100% completion, though it was a lot easier for Virgin America with only 28 planes than it was for AirTran with 136 planes. Oh, and remember, Virgin America has power outlets so they already have a leg up.

American has just passed 100 MD-80s with the system along with the 15 767-200s flying across the country. talking to AirCell today, I was told that they’re doing 1 or 2 a day, so they keep marching quickly. They will have 150 MD-80s, and I believe that’s the only plan so far.

Alaska is still just in test mode, but they have indicated that they want to go fleetwide eventually.

Southwest is also still in test mode, but they just announced that they would be rolling this out fleetwide beginning in 2010. There is no timeline for completion, but hopefully they can install this quicker than they can paint airplanes in their new colors.

Continental and JetBlue are in the same boat. They are both tied to the LiveTV inflight entertainment system, and that can include narrow-band access for free onboard. That means you can check email, use IM, and visit a couple websites but that’s about it. JetBlue still only has it on one airplane but they’ll begin rolling it out soon throughout the fleet. I know Continental has LiveTV on most of its 737-900s now, but they don’t have wifi of any kind yet.

United had announced that its flights from New York to LA and San Francisco will have internet but that hasn’t happened yet. US Airways will put it on their A321 fleet as well, but that hasn’t begun either.

So if you want wifi, AirTran and Virgin America are your best bet with Delta and American following. Of course, it remains to be seen how many people want wifi and more importantly, are willing to pay for it. I asked AirCell for usage numbers, but of course, they couldn’t provide that. Bummer.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say that they wish airlines would just be more honest with them about delays. Sure, airlines promise to update you every 15 minutes these days (yeah, that happens), but often, the agents aren’t given all the information they need to keep you up to date. That’s why when I received a note from the guys behind FLTAdvisor, I immediately saw some promise in the idea.

FLTAdvisor’s goal is to find out if a flight is really going to be on time, despite what the airline says. The idea is great, but can they pull it off? So far, so good, but keep in mind that you will have to pay for it. (More that later.)

For the most part, customer service agents and passengers are constrained by whatever the systems are displaying for actual flight time information, but we all know that’s not the whole story. I can often trace a plane back a couple legs to see that it’s going to be late, but airlines generally suck about letting us know about that for fear that aircraft changes may be made and it won’t be accurate.

FLTAdvisor is full of operations guys that used to work for airlines, and they put together this model to help find delays earlier. Yeah, they trace planes back to see if there are delays already, but they do a lot more than that. They use a lot of assumptions about how quickly airplanes can turn around, which runways are operating that day, etc to come up with an accurate prediction. I spoke with John King at the company, and he said that so far accuracy has been very good. I decided to put it to the test.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t as easy as I had thought. I picked a handful of flights, and somehow they all ended up being on time. (This even includes a flight from JFK to Philly on a bad weather day. Come on!) But then I found one. United flight 1166 from SFO to LAX on Sunday, Feb 15 (I wrote this post a little while ago). Here’s what I received. My first email came in at 230p (you can choose when emails should be sent).

United 1166 San Francisco-Los Angeles:
FltAdvisor analysis indicates your departure from San Francisco may be at 5:42 PM, 12 mins late.
FltAdvisor analysis indicates your aircraft is flying from San Francisco to Santa Ana and is currently 80 mins late.
Your aircraft is routed through Santa Ana and then back to San Francisco.
SFO Weather/Rain may cause additional delays.
United reports your 5:30 PM departure from San Francisco is on-time.
Additional Information:
Current Departure Gate 73
Estimated Arrival in LAX at 6:55 PM
Current Arrival Gate 70B
Scheduled – 735 type aircraft.
The following information is from the FAA’s ATC Command Center.
These are general airport conditions and are not flight-specific.
Real-Time Airport Delays for SFO:
Due to WEATHER / WIND, there is a Traffic Management Program in effect for traffic arriving San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, CA (SFO). This is causing some arriving flights to be delayed an average of 2 hours and 58 minutes.
Delays by Destination:
No destination-specific delays are being reported.

Excellent. My plane was already looking to be in bad shape, so at least I could mentally prepare for the delay. There’s also an option in each email to click for alternate flights. It shows those with the actual expected times of departure for those as well, so that’s a helpful tool if you really need to be somewhere. At 430p, an hour before the original departure time of the flight, the half-hourly updates started pouring in.

• 430p: my flight would now be 71 minutes late because the plane was stuck in Orange County (United.com said 55 minutes late)
• 500p and 530p: once the plane had left Orange County, it said the flight would be 90 minutes late
• 6p: revised downward, probably due to lifting traffic restrictions, saying that it would be only 68 minutes late
• 630p: pushed it up again and said it would be 80 minutes late, 10 minutes from the time of that email

Ultimately, the plane ended up departing 75 minutes late, so certainly within an acceptable range. The most important thing here is that FLTAdvisor gave me notice that a delay was a good possibility long before United did. Were my flight times very important, I could have switched to an earlier flight (that probably also would have been delayed) before others would even know about it.

Yes, it’s always possible that United could have switched planes at SFO and made the flight go on time, and that’s why you can never rely completely on this service. (They’ll send you an email as soon as they see a move like that happening.) But it’s a great early warning system that helps set expectations.

Of course, something like this isn’t going to be free as I mentioned earlier. It’s either $8 a month ($88 a year) or you can buy packets that give you a certain number of flights to track. For example, 10 flights will cost you $15.

If I were a frequent business traveler, I imagine that would be extremely helpful.