By Matt Hamblen
August 20, 2008

American Airlines launched in-flight Wi-Fi service on three long-haul routes in the U.S. today, and it will decide in three to six months whether to expand the service to other routes. While there has been a recent surge in interest among airlines in providing in-flight Wi-Fi to passengers, this is the biggest step any carrier has taken toward that goal.

Earlier this month, Delta Air Lines said it will begin rolling out Wi-Fi service on all its planes in the fall, while Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Virgin America and Jet Blue have Wi-Fi tests or limited projects underway. American has created Wi-Fi networks aboard 15 Boeing 767-200 planes serving three routes with nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and New York and Miami, the airline said.

Today's launch was originally intended to take place last month, but "tweaks" had to be made to the system, especially to simplify the setup process for users, an American spokeswoman said today. The Wi-Fi service, called Gogo, is provided by Aircell LLC, which has offices in Broomfield, Colo. and Itasca, Ill. Gogo connects each plane's Wi-Fi hot spot to the ground over a 3-Mhz signal that connects to Aircell's network of 92 cell towers throughout the continental U.S.

Users will be able to launch Internet browsers on Wi-Fi-enabled laptops or other devices once planes reach 10,000 feet. At that point, they will be directed to a Gogo portal to sign up for service with a credit card. The service will cost $12.95 on each flight over three hours. While users will have the ability to surf the Web, check e-mail, hold instant-messaging conversations and access corporate VPNs, they will not be allowed to use voice over IP or any voice cell service while in the air.