Qantas in-flight Wi-Fi fails to take off

Qantas was forced to abandon the official launch of its in-flight wi-fi after tests revealed ‘stability issues’.

Qantas was forced to abandon the official launch of its in-flight Wi-Fi yesterday after last-minute tests revealed unresolved “stability issues”.

The airline had arranged for the media to fly with chief executive Alan Joyce on a two-hour test flight, but had to cancel the flight at the 11th hour.

CSIRO scientist Terry Percival, who is credited with the co-invention of Wi-Fi, was to have joined Mr Joyce on the flight.

Qantas has been developing its Wi-Fi system with US technology firm ViaSat, while it also ­relies on the National Broadband Network.

The company is still hopeful it will be able to offer free Wi-Fi on all of its flights by mid-year.

“We’ve been testing in-flight Wi-Fi for several weeks and the performance has been strong. We were preparing to open it up to media and customers this week as we continue our fine­tuning over the next few months, but some stability issues have emerged that we need to fix ­before customers can use it,” Qantas said in a statement.

“We’re working with NBN and ViaSat to fix these issues very soon. We remain on track for a broader rollout to the ­Qantas domestic fleet from mid-2017.”

The naming of NBN in the statement prompted the provider to respond with its own clarification. It said the problems with the in-flight Wi-Fi “did not involve the NBN Sky Muster satellite connection”.

Virgin Australia already ­offers in-flight entertainment via a Wi-Fi app on selected Boeing 737-800 and Embraer 190 aircraft, but this system, which requires passengers to use their own devices, is limited to entertainment and does not allow for email or internet access.