Low-cost airline Spirit will begin offering Wi-Fi on its flights sometime later this year, the company announced today. The access will cost an "average price of $ 6.50" per flight, depending on the options of bandwidth and the route you are flying. Spirit will use high-speed Ka-band satellites that should provide a connection fast enough for transmission. The launch should be completed by the summer of 2019.
Spirit says the Wi-Fi experience will be even faster in the coming years as the communications group he will work with will have access to the next generation SES satellites . Of course, it will face stiff competition from here to there, as major airlines offer some kind of "basic economy" rate that threatens the "ultra low cost" sales argument of companies like Spirit.
As is often the case when talking about flying on a budget, consumer choice often comes down to what kind of sacrifices they are willing to make. Do you choose the cheap rate that does not let you fly with a large hand luggage? In the one that approaches the last and does not have access to the upper compartments? And then pay more to get rid of some of those restrictions, just to help airlines accumulate record revenue from the rates? Keeping costs low is a great idea, and so is adding essential technology such as Wi-Fi. Maybe the Spirit can find a way to achieve that balance while staying competitive, or maybe just change the cost to another place.