Airlines have been adding in-flight internet access for a fee. This luxury could prove to be a 100 million dollar business for the industry this year. Airlines that have enables paid wireless internet have seen their monthly revenues significantly grow due to the added service. BusinessWeek, for instance, ran this story and mentioned how Aircell has seen it's revenue jump by 50% from February to May of this year after adding the service.
At the end of 2010, more than 2000 more planes will have on-board, for-a-fee internet access. Currently the service is being under-utilized. This is most likely due to the high fees that some of the airlines are charging for the service. For example, on a recent 90 minute flight on AirTran airlines, they were charging a flat 9.99 fee for the service. This would work fine for business travelers, but the average consumer might balk at the fee and opt for a good book instead. More consumers may jump at the notion of in-flight internet as the fees drop.