US Airways adds inflight email, instant messaging and more with Verizon Airfone JetConnect

US Airways announced today that Verizon Airfone JetConnect service will be available on many of its domestic routes beginning Feb. 1, 2004. US Airways passengers will now have inflight access to e-mail, instant messaging, text messaging, games, news, sports, weather and more.

Customers using JetConnect can log on and off as many times as they like for a flat fee. JetConnect with e-mail costs $15.98 per flight, plus $0.10 per KB for attachments and/or data in excess of 5KB per message. JetConnect without the e-mail feature is available for $5.99 per flight.

US Airways will offer JetConnect on more than 80 of its Airfone-equipped Airbus aircraft, which are also equipped with power ports at every seat.

"In today’s tech-savvy environment, we recognize that our customers want to stay connected while traveling," said B. Ben Baldanza, US Airways senior vice president of marketing and planning. "With power ports at every seat, customers on JetConnect flights can stay connected longer without running down their laptop battery."

"JetConnect is of particular value to business travelers intent on boosting inflight productivity, and the move to JetConnect becomes a valuable service enhancement for US Airways," said Bill Pallone, president of Verizon Airfone.

To use the JetConnect service, passengers plug their laptop computers into the Verizon Airfone handset at their seat. Passengers use routine dial-up procedures to link to JetConnect and no software downloads or changes to connection procedures are required.

Verizon Airfone uses Seattle-based Tenzing Communications as its e-mail software provider.