Friday, January 29, 2010
Row 44 In Major Wi-Fi Win With Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines said Friday that it is officially rolling Wi-Fi out to all of its airplanes, in what is a major win for Westlake Village-based Row 44. According to Southwest, it has ended testing of Row 44's equipment, and signed an equipment purchase contract with Row 44 for all of its aircraft. Southwest said it will begin installing equipment in the second quarter of the year, installing about 15 aircraft per month. Southwest said it will eventually ramp up to 25 installs per month, with all of its 540 planes being fully outfitted with Wi-Fi service by early 2012. Southwest did not disclose pricing on the wireless access plans, saying it is still experimenting with a variety of price points on its four trial aircraft.
Row 44 was founded by experienced entrepreneurs John Guidon and Gregg Fialcowitz.