It’s 5 minutes before your plane takes off; you power through your phone, jumping from apps, emails, text messages, taking last minute Snapchats and Instagram stories, finalising your ‘fly-high’ Spotify playlists, basically making your last desperate attempt to connect with the world before you switch off and soar into the offline abyss that is inflight travel.
This is a picture of most of us, or “was” we should say. Virgin Australia, a TEDxSydney partner, has this week announced its international inflight WiFi has officially been switched on after a successful testing phase, making it the only Australian airline to offer international WiFi. Now passengers travelling between Australia and Los Angeles, with Virgin Australia or its partner Delta Air Lines, can remain connected for their entire flight.
Access to WiFi while you’re 30,000 feet in the air means no more FOMO (fear of missing out) over what’s happening in the world, your community or your workplace. No more staring into the back of the chair in front of you, counting down the minutes once you’ve absorbed every single inflight movie possible.
Five years ago we never would have imagined the possibility of accessing the ‘real world’ while the air hostess brings you your next meal. Being connected inflight can mean no missed deadlines, no missed social posting opportunities, no missed check-ins between you and your loved ones. But, perhaps more importantly, it means you don’t need to feel overwhelmed by the influx of emails, texts, network notifications, missed calls that often tumble on top of you the minute you land after being ‘disconnected’ for several hours.
Group Executive, Virgin Australia Airlines, Rob Sharp said: “Most of us use our phones on a daily – if not hourly basis – meaning it can be incredibly disruptive to have extended periods of time when you can’t connect with friends, family, colleagues, or what’s going on in the world. We’re proud to be the leader in providing Australians with greater inflight connectivity on international flights.”
Now, that’s taking connection to a new level. Be right back, we’re just booking a trip to LA.
