Southwest unveils free Wi-Fi

Hot on the heels of United Airlines, Southwest is now offering free in-flight Wi-Fi, something we first reported it would do last May. Although the program is only free of charge while in beta (no word on pricing) and has not yet received FCC approval, some lucky Southwest customers are being greeted with Wi-Fi placards and onboard instruction sheets detailing how to use their laptops, iPhones, and Wi-Fi-enabled smartphones while flying.

Unlike United Airlines and American Airlines, which both use the Gogo service from Aircell, Southwest is working with Row 44 on this program (which uses a satellite connection instead of air-to-ground antenna). While only a single airliner is currently equipped, Southwest intends to have three more up and Wi-Fi-capable by March.

Southwest has also partnered with Yahoo, which is designing an in-flight home page that will provide destination-relevant content, including local events, news, weather, and nightlife guides with information on restaurants, attractions, and shopping. An interactive flight path tracker lets you view points of interest via Flickr. Bonus: Yahoo is also providing in-flight Yahoo Games, which means I will now be spending all my flights playing Bejeweled 2.

Southwest hasn’t followed British Airways’ lead, however: Although technically the Row 44 system is able to handle both cell and VoIP service, Southwest has stated it will not be moving in that direction.