Customers Connect With Wi-Fi Enabled Laptops and Smartphones to Customized Versions of Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Messenger Services
JetBlue Airways, partnering with Yahoo!, Research In Motion (RIM) and LiveTV became the first U.S. domestic carrier to provide complimentary in-flight e-mail and instant messaging services, starting with "BetaBlue," the airline's first Airbus A320 aircraft equipped with an onboard wireless network. Customers using Wi-Fi enabled laptops and smartphones can now stay connected to friends, family and colleagues in the air via customized in-flight versions of Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Messenger, while those with Wi-Fi enabled BlackBerry smartphones can access their corporate and personal e-mail.
BetaBlue, the airline's exclusive trial aircraft for LiveTV products, enables customers to send and receive e-mail and instant messages using in-flight versions of Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Messenger, the most popular e-mail and instant messaging services in the U.S. Additionally, fliers with Wi-Fi enabled smartphones from RIM, such as the new Wi-Fi enabled BlackBerry, will be able to access their BlackBerry e-mail and instant messages.
"JetBlue continues to innovate when it comes to the customer experience, from being the first airline to offer every customer their own television with 36 channels of free entertainment, to today's introduction of free in-flight mail and messaging services," said Dave Barger, CEO of JetBlue Airways. "We are thrilled to be the first to offer in-flight connectivity to today's domestic flier, keeping our customers connected to work and loved ones in the air by providing unique, simple and FREE Wi-Fi services from Yahoo! and BlackBerry. We look forward to continued enhancements of the JetBlue Experience as LiveTV's inventive products rapidly evolve."
"Yahoo!, JetBlue and partners have a history of delighting users with innovative experiences, and now together, we have the opportunity to please travelers and Internet users with an original service they have long been requesting," said Brad Garlinghouse, senior vice president of Yahoo! Communications and Communities. "As Internet leaders, Yahoo! Mail and Messenger are often the first communication tools that consumers use when they log-on to the Internet, and by launching the first-ever free in-flight communication service, we are giving consumers even more ways to connect with the people who matter most in their lives."
"Wi-Fi technology has given BlackBerry smartphone users more connectivity options than ever before, and BetaBlue makes it possible to keep in touch with the people and information that matter most, even when cruising at 30,000 feet," said Mark Guibert, vice president of Corporate Marketing, Research In Motion. "We're pleased to be working alongside JetBlue and LiveTV on this groundbreaking project."
JetBlue customers also enjoy free high-speed wireless Internet access in its home base at Terminal 6 in New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport as well as its Long Beach, California location. The JetBlue Experience provides boundless flair in the air -- all at no extra charge to the customer. From comfy, leather seats that provide the most legroom of any other airline in coach to 36 channels of free, live DirecTV programming; from award-winning customer service to free and unlimited name brand snacks. The airline's EMBRAER E190 fleet is also outfitted with more than 100 channels of XM Satellite radio, and the majority of its A320 fleet has been retrofitted with the service.
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