Boeing in-flight Net service gets boost SEATTLE (Reuters) =97 Boeing Thursday said it signed British Airways as a=20 second trial customer for its Connexion in-flight Internet service, the=20 first good news for the program since the Sept. 11 attacks. British Air,=20 Europe's largest carrier, joins German flag carrier Deutsche Lufthansa in=20 trials with Connexion, which lost three major U.S. airline investors and=20 slashed its workforce after the attacks sent airlines into survival mode.=20 Connexion President Scott Carson said air travelers' demand for the=20 high-speed service would grow once they begin to see it, pressuring other=20 airlines to follow suit or lose passengers who need to stay connected.=20 "There is no doubt in my mind," Carson told reporters aboard a parked=20 Boeing 737 jetliner outfitted to demonstrate Connexion at the company's=20 narrow-body jet delivery facility in Seattle. British Air and Lufthansa=20 will each offer the service on one Boeing 747-400 during three-month trials= =20 in early 2003. Boeing plans to formally launch the service in 2004. BA's director of marketing, Martin George, said research showed that 75% of= =20 its business-class travelers carry laptop computers to their seats when=20 they fly. Ultimately Carson hopes to install Connexion on about 4,000 jets =97 about a= =20 third of the world's commercial fleet =97 over the next 10 years, bringing= in=20 $3 billion to $5 billion in annual revenues. During the demonstration,=20 e-mails sent via satellite through a roof-mounted antenna reached their=20 addressees moments later while the laptop computer also showed a delayed=20 video news feed from the CNN network. But an attempt to demonstrate the=20 service via a handheld personal digital assistant using a wireless modem=20 failed, prompting a message indicating an incompatible Web browser and=20 offering options for downloading a new one. British Air will likely charge 20 to 30 pounds ($29.40 to $44.10) per=20 flight segment to use the service during the trial, Boeing said, while U.S.= =20 customers would likely charge $20 to $30 per flight segment, Carson said.=20 For that price customers would get Internet access and a variety of options= =20 for video entertainment. Were the full service available today, it might=20 show taped World Cup soccer games, for example. Airlines would pay Boeing a one-time fee to install the 600 pounds of=20 hardware needed to run the service and would share some of the passenger=20 revenues with Connexion, which leases bandwidth from satellite=20 communications providers. The top three U.S. airlines =97 AMR unit American= =20 Airlines, UAL's United Airlines and Delta Air Lines =97 abandoned an=20 investment in Connexion last fall, but may still take the service, Boeing=20 said. Connexion's main rival, Seattle-based Tenzing Communications, has=20 also cut jobs and delayed some customer rollouts of its narrow-band service= =20 as airlines fight back a sea of red ink amid shrinking passenger flows.=20 Boeing rival Airbus, held jointly by European Aeronautic Defence and Space= =20 (EADS), with an 80% stake, and Britain's BAE Systems, owns 30% of Tenzing. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (RBTT) http://www.rbtt.com/ (RBTT Financial Group) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************