{"id":3735,"date":"2023-03-11T12:24:17","date_gmt":"2023-03-11T12:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=3735"},"modified":"2023-03-11T12:24:17","modified_gmt":"2023-03-11T12:24:17","slug":"new-viasat-wifi-is-coming-to-southwest-this-month-heres-what-to-expect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=3735","title":{"rendered":"New Viasat WiFi Is Coming To Southwest This Month: Here\u2019s What To Expect"},"content":{"rendered":"

Southwest Airlines is shaking off its no-frills reputation with a\u00a0$2 billion makeover on the passenger experience side. Among the improvements announced last year are larger overhead bins, new fare categories, power ports at every seat and, notably, new and improved WiFi connectivity.<\/p>\n

Southwest\u00a0has provided WiFi since 2013, partnering with Anvuu (previously Global Eagle) to provide gate-to-gate connectivity. Although Anvuu has been working to improve its service, the improvements are apparently not coming fast enough for Southwest, as the carrier\u00a0announced a new partnership last May.<\/p>\n

All new aircraft arriving with the carrier will come with factory-installed\u00a0WiFi<\/a>\u00a0from global communications company\u00a0Viasat<\/a>. This provider\u2019s high-speed Ka-band connectivity solution is set to shake things up at Southwest, with faster, more reliable connections. Viasat already powers the IFC solution for the USA\u2019s biggest carriers, including\u00a0Delta Air Lines<\/a>,\u00a0JetBlue<\/a>, American, and United.<\/p>\n

When will Southwest go live with Viasat connectivity?<\/h2>\n

The companies have revealed that the first Viasat-equipped aircraft will enter service with Southwest this month. Whether or not your flight is Viasat equipped is pot luck – the companies say the new aircraft will be used on various routes around North America but are not limited to any particular route.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"southwest<\/picture><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Photo: Southwest Airlines<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The aircraft will connect to Viasat\u2019s two major Ka-band satellites – ViaSat-1 and ViaSat-2. When it was launched in 2011, ViaSat-1 became the highest-capacity satellite in the world. It was complemented in 2017 with the addition of ViaSat-2, featuring even higher capacity and seven times greater geographical coverage. These vessels promise faster speeds, lower latency and greater bandwidth than the current equipment, but the good news doesn’t end there.<\/p>\n

Coming soon is another robust addition to the Viasat fleet – the ViaSat-3 constellation. This will see not one but three high-capacity satellites added, increasing the capacity of the Viasat network by a staggering 600%. The first of the three payloads is expected to launch in early April, and will provide additional coverage to the Americas. So that new Southwest WiFi is about to get even better.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"ViaSat-3<\/picture><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Photo: Viasat<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

How much does it cost?<\/h2>\n

Southwest has tweaked the pricing model slightly\u00a0<\/a>for the introduction of the new equipment. Now, it will cost $8 from gate to gate on one flight; previously, you could access the internet for a whole day\u2019s worth of flights for the same fee. There\u2019s been some kickback on this decision from passengers, but given the amount of investment going into connectivity at the airline, it\u2019s not entirely surprising.<\/p>\n

Another reason for the per-leg charging will be the variation in suppliers across the fleet. However, one thing that hasn\u2019t changed is complimentary access to the Inflight Entertainment Portal, enabling free streaming of entertainment and live TV throughout the flight via personal electronic devices. Laptops, Android and iOS devices will have access to 13 channels of live TV, as well as a catalog of movies, a flight tracker and messaging services.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Southwest<\/picture><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Photo: Southwest Airlines<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Another interesting point to note is that JetBlue has been offering fast and free WiFi with the help of Viasat for many years.\u00a0Delta has joined the party<\/a>, offering free WiFi on 80% of its fleet from February 1st. Could we see Southwest bringing fast, free WiFi to passengers in the future? We can hope.<\/p>\n

Are you keen to test drive Southwest\u2019s new and improved Viasat WiFi? Let us know what you think in the comments.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Southwest Airlines is shaking off its no-frills reputation with a\u00a0$2 billion makeover on the passenger experience side. Among the improvements announced last year are larger overhead bins, new fare categories, power ports at every seat and, notably, new and improved WiFi connectivity. Southwest\u00a0has provided WiFi since 2013, partnering with Anvuu (previously Global Eagle) to provide …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3736,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[96,102],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation-world","category-featured-en"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Viasat WiFi Is Coming To Southwest This Month: Here\u2019s What To Expect - aviation news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=3735\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Viasat WiFi Is Coming To Southwest This Month: Here\u2019s What To Expect\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Southwest Airlines is shaking off its no-frills reputation with a\u00a0$2 billion makeover on the passenger experience side. 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