As PR professionals with clients in the high-tech industry, we see first-hand, how technology impacts everyday lives. The evolution of mobile phones, Wi-Fi hotspots and mobile WiMAX has shifted our lifestyle to an “always-connected” culture. Given this, we are especially excited about helping Alaska Airlines launch the customer trial of its new satellite-based wireless Internet service.

The service is called Alaska Airlines Inflight Wi-Fi and can be used by passengers to browse the Web; access online music, games, podcasts and webcasts; send and receive e-mail and connect to Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).

There are many times I have boarded a plane and wished I had bought one more magazine to read or remembered an e-mail I wanted to send. With this service, I am looking forward to staying connected – whether for business or entertainment. I can only imagine the fun I could have getting caught up with friends on Facebook at 30,000 feet.

I am not the only one excited about Alaska Airlines’ announcement. We did an informal poll to determine what others think about this service and here are a few of the comments we heard:

“This is one more thing that makes Alaska Airlines the very best,” wrote Debra Yergen. “I’ve been an MVP flyer with them some years, and just a regular flyer other years (when I’ve just missed the levels), and I always feel like I get the very best service. From their inflight digEplayers to inflight Wi-Fi, Alaska Airlines is continually fantastic. It’s great to be able to send e-mails and keep current with events – especially on long flights from Seattle to Maui (which I just took in November/December 2008).

According to Spencer Harrison, “Inflight Wi-Fi is amazing. I was literally checking e-mail and chatting with friends via Instant Messenger at 37,000 feet. It made the flight go by so much faster.”

Ed Kohler, a frequent traveler out of Minneapolis, and a customer of Alaska Airlines for flights to Vancouver and Seattle wrote us to say, “I’m much more likely to consider Alaska Airlines over other options including Minneapolis-Saint Paul’s incumbent airline Northwest Airlines (soon to be Delta) based on having Wi-Fi as an option.”

Kohler went on to explain. “My hope is that they’ll also include power outlets onboard. If not, this may prompt me to go out to buy an iPod Touch for use when my laptop’s battery eventually dies. Using e-mail will be my biggest benefit from this. While surfing the web, online games are great, e-mail is the killer app for communication while traveling for business. It’s the first thing I check when I hit the ground.”

Ruth Carter shared, “I think it’s awesome that Alaska Airlines is adding Wi-Fi service to its airlines. I’m a law student and a research assistant. Even though I’m only in my first year, I already have the mindset that ëtime is money.’ I support anything that lets me use my time more efficiently. For some of us, being out of touch, even if only for a few hours, can be a huge hassle. I don’t think that cell phone use should ever be allowed on airplanes because it would be so annoying and distracting to other passengers. However, I completely support the idea that travelers will be able to conduct research on the Internet and communicate with others through their laptops while they are in-flight.”

To date, there have been more than 45 print and broadcast mentions about Alaska Airlines’ Wi-Fi service trial including USA Today, Wireless Week, CNET TV, Anchorage Daily News, Seattle Times, KOMO 4 News, KING 5 News and KIRO 7 News.

We hope this is helpful as you consider how you might take advantage of this new service. For more information on Alaska Airlines Inflight Wi-Fi please e-mail us at info@communiquepr.com.