Southwest Airlines is preparing to offer free wi-fi on select flights beginning tomorrow, May 1, and running through Monday, May 5.
Southwest is Testing Free Wi-Fi This Week
The Dallas based carrier has sent out emails to passengers onboard the selected flights, but it is unclear at this time whether the message went to all passengers, Rapid Rewards members, or A-List frequent flyers. If you’re flying with the airline between now and Monday, check your inbox to see if you have an email from Southwest.
This is likely a test run to see the loads and how the Wi-Fi responds and Southwest notes that the free internet trial will only be available for a limited time on Wi-Fi enabled aircraft. In an effort to conserve bandwidth, the carrier will prohibit access to high-bandwidth applications and websites. It will also block access to obscene content and notes that Wi-Fi may not be available for the duration of the flight.
Personally, I think this is a great move by Southwest. The carrier has had a string of unfriendly customer changes over the past few months and, in addition to gaining back some goodwill, this could set the stage for a broader rollout of free Wi-Fi fleetwide.
We’ve seen United, Delta, and American announce plans to bring free Wi-Fi to the skies so it makes sense that Southwest will be looking to follow suit. I’m hopeful that this trial run goes well and that we see free Wi-Fi rolled out more broadly in the near future.
Summary
Southwest Airlines is planning to trial free Wi-Fi on select flights over the next few days. An email has been sent to passengers onboard those flights so check your inbox to see if yours qualifies. This is a great step towards rolling out free Wi-Fi across the entire Southwest Airlines fleet!
Special thanks to Blake for the tip!
