In-Flight Wifi Could Save Businesses Billions

When you’re taking care of business on the go, Wifi is a basic necessity.

According to recent research, almost two thirds of Americans surveyed couldn’t imagine going a day without Wifi, and almost a third claimed they just couldn’t live without it.

But the vast majority of the millions of Americans going on long-distance business trips every year have no Wifi access.

Most likely, you’d survive a day without Internet access—but there’s still plenty to lose. With so much of our data now up in the cloud, workers may not be able to get any work done at all without going online. And with all the time spent on business travel, the hours and lost revenue add up.

Several airlines have begun implementing Wifi on their flights. But only a few airlines, like Virgin America and AirTran, offer Wifi on 100% of their flights. Many other airlines are still in the process of implementing Wifi, and only offer it on a few of their flights.

Today, the number of flights with available Wifi make up only 38% of all flights in the US, or less than 10,000.

Why is this such an important amenity?

Besides those who claim their lives are in danger if they go without Internet access for a day, businesses in the United States are losing money every year due to business travel. The lack of Wifi on flights has been calculated to cost US businesses billions of dollars per year from lost working hours.

If Wifi was offered on all flights, those business could see an increase in revenue of over a hundred billion dollars per year.

What are the hard facts on in-flight Wifi and how it affects business revenue? Check out the numbers below. Next time you fly for business, vote with your wallet by going with a flight that provides Wifi, and let your airline know how crucial it is to your business.

KeriLynn Engel

KeriLynn is a content marketing specialist and writer at Awesome Motive. Before that, she worked as a freelance writer for various websites. She is an advocate for domestic abuse victims and has way too many hobbies. KeriLynn lives in Connecticut.

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