Air India is trying to find a unique selling point to stay relevant to the travellers it serves, and in-flight internet might just be it from their perspective. After the new found acceptance from Star Alliance, they might just be trying to build a customer-focussed organisation.
According to The Times of India, the airline is now investigating the proposition to buy and install wifi internet services on their planes. As per the report, the early steps have been taken to look at vendors, and while this may not indicate that it will have wifi anytime in the next few months or years, it is a start.
AI chairman Rohit Nandan has set up a panel of top AI officials to examine the technical aspects and ensure that onboard Wi-Fi connectivity happens in a cost-neutral way for the airline and in fact helps the Maharaja earn some money.
We’ll see where this goes, and if Air India would be able to make this happen in super quick time before their freshly funded full-service competitor turns this into their USP. However, I’ll give them brownie points for at least having started the conversations.
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Impractical for domestic operations, & I’m not sure how will they make money on long haul international sectors with presumably limited aircraft.