The photo to the left excites me. It’s 2 guys installing an "Aircell inflight broadband antenna" on the bottom of an American Airlines 767.

I’m glad the technician on the left has the manual because I’m sure it’s not as simple as grabbing a studfinder and drilling a few holes through the fuselage.

The service sounds awesome; in-flight WiFi access, free access to AA.com, the WSJ and compatibility with VPN services.

When Connexion by Boeing was canceled back in 2006 it seemed like the end of in flight broadband, but thankfully American Airlines seems to agree that the time is right to try it again, with a more promising technology. No pricing has been announced but if I had to guess I’d say it would be between $10 and $20 per flight, which is definitely something I’d pay to combat boredom and prevent spending the last 2 hours of my transcon browsing the Sky Mall catalogue.

Read what AA has to say about it:

American Airlines and Aircell collaborate on the first installation of Aircell’s Internet broadband connectivity solution at American’s Kansas City maintenance facility.  American will install and test the technology in 2008 on all 15 of its Boeing 767-200 aircraft.

FORT WORTH, Texas – American Airlines, leading the way in customer experience initiatives, has completed the first aircraft installation of the Aircell ® Internet broadband connectivity solution at American’s Kansas City maintenance base. American, which will be the first U.S. airline to offer customers Aircell’s Internet broadband solution, plans to install and test the technology in 2008 on all 15 of its Boeing 767-200 aircraft that primarily fly transcontinental routes.

“There’s a tremendous amount of intrigue and appeal for travelers to be able to utilize the Internet when traveling 30,000 feet above the United States at 500 miles per hour,” said Dan Garton, American’s Executive Vice President – Marketing. “Connectivity is important to our business customers and those who want to use their PDAs and laptops for real-time, full-service, inflight, broadband Internet, e-mail and VPN. With this test of Aircell’s technology, American Airlines is demonstrating our commitment to enhancing the travel experience for our customers and meeting their evolving needs when it comes to connectivity and communications.”

Source: AMR Corp press release