American Airlines Sues Gogo for Slow Inflight Wi-Fi

In the world of franchising, staying connected is a way of life. Whether it’s checking email for incoming leads, reading up on 1851 Franchise’s latest headlines or sending out urgent iMessages to frazzled franchisees, constantly having your fingers on the pulse of the industry means never going offline—even when you’re six miles off the ground.

Fortunately, companies have made it easier than ever to never miss a beat, thanks to commodities like inflight Wi-Fi. But these days, data-obsessed passengers crave even more immediacy and speed, and complaining about slow Internet service has become about as commonplace as grumbling over elbow space, crying babies and a lack of free peanuts.

Travelers aren’t alone in their frustration. American Airlines is fed up with their inflight Wi-Fi, too—which is why the nation’s largest airline has sued its Internet provider, Gogo, in hopes of getting out of its contract and switching to a competitor.

In a lawsuit first spotted by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, American Airlines said they’re suing Gogo for one fairly simple reason—there are better and quicker Internet options.

“Alternative service providers are offering faster, more reliable and less expensive satellite-based Wi-Fi services to airlines like United, Southwest, Jet Blue and Virgin America,” the airline said in the suit.

Better performance really does matter. American Airlines argues that reliable Wi-Fi is one of the most important factors for passengers. In fact, according to a recent survey cited by the airline, 66 percent of passengers consider inflight Internet availability when choosing a flight.

“Nearly one in five customers have switched from a preferred airline to another carrier because of better Wi-Fi offerings,” American Airlines claims in the suit.

Current Gogo-enabled plans are using outdated 3G connections that deliver about 9.8 Mbps to a plane, split among a hundred passengers, for a $16 access fee. If American Airlines does get out of its Gogo contract, it would affect about 200 of its 800 aircrafts that have this service installed. But the Internet provider isn’t going down without a fight.

“We have no comment on the merits of this litigation, but we would like to note that American Airlines is a valued customer of ours and that we look forward to resolving the disagreement,” a spokesman for Gogo said.

The company plans to submit a competing proposal to American for its latest satellite Wi-Fi technology, called 2Ku.