By Joe Brancatelli
CYBERTRAVELER
Slowly They Wire, Flight By Flight?United Airlines says it will offer GoGo in-flight Internet service on its two p.s. routes (New York-Los Angeles and New York-San Francisco). The Wi-Fi service will begin later this year and cost $12.95 a flight. If that sounds like good news, the truth is that the pace of Internet adoption on planes has been glacial. Despite all the hype around in-flight Internet in recent months, only about two dozen American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Virgin America jets are currently offering Wi-Fi. While Delta claims it will have most of its domestic fleet wired this year, the airline's actual performance has lagged far behind its promises. And during a conference call with airline-industry analysts this month, American Airlines pointedly avoided saying that its current Wi-Fi test on about a dozen aircraft will be expanded any time soon. Two other airlines that have promised Internet access with another Wi-Fi provider, Alaska and Southwest, have not even begun the testing that was due to begin last year.
IN THE LOBBY
More Hotels Gush Out of the Development Pipeline: With four in ten rooms in the nation now empty on an average night, there isn't much need for new hotels. But since it takes a few years for properties to go from conception to reality, a huge number of hotels continue to gush from the development pipeline. Here what's new: A 136-room Holiday Inn has opened in Long Island City in the New York City borough of Queens. ? In Manhattan, the 124-room Wyndham Garden Inn opened in the increasingly crowded Chelsea neighborhood. ? Starwood has opened an Aloft property in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the 250-room Westin in Richmond, Virginia. ? After 13 years of planning, false starts and controversy, the 614-room Omni Fort Worth has opened across the street from the city's convention center. ? Out on the West Coast, Hyatt has opened the Andaz West Hollywood on the site of the old Hyatt on Sunset.
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Joe Brancatelli is editor and publisher of JoeSentMe.com, a non-commercial Web site for business travelers. Copyright 2008 by Joe Brancatelli. Licensed by contract for Orbitz use.
Original source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/orbitz-travel-blog/~3/538366472/business-travel-3.html
