Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Could Qantas move delay Ryanair launch of mobile services ?

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Qantas have shelved plans to launch live on board internet services on A380 aircraft next month as American Airlines has come under fire from flight attendants and customers for allowing passengers to surf porn web sites. Instead the airline has opted to offer 'cached internet content' and access to web based email and chat services. A Qantas spokesperson said that the internet plans had been pared back due to 'logistical and regulatory' issues encountered by the connectivity provider Onair. The airline said that full internet services would now be provided 'later in 2009'. Last month American Airlines started to offer full in flight broadband internet services on it's B767 aircraft but the flight attendants union were quick to request that software be installed to block inappropriate sites following complaints from FAs and passengers. The airline took the unusual view that they would rather offer unfiltered content and have flight crews monitor content for inappropriate content. Ryanair have opted to use the same provider ( as Qantas ) - Onair - as the provider of their airborne voice and data connection which begs the question - who is responsible for policing content - the user or the provider ?

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