Connectivity as a Given

Flight time is work time as airlines increasingly offer Wi-Fi connections on their planes. Wi-Fi Internet access has expanded to 153 million passengers in 2011 from 153,000 in 2009, according to Gogo Wireless, a Wi-Fi provider for airlines.

According to a report this year from the Chaddick Institute, the percentage of air travelers using technology at “random selected points” on a flight was 28.4 percent in 2011, up from 23.2 percent in 2010 and 17.6 percent in 2009. The report found that more travelers were bringing their own devices, including tablets and e-readers, with them on planes. One in 12 airline passengers is now using a tablet, and that number continues to grow. Tablets account for almost 30 percent of all technology use on commercial flights, and that share is also likely to grow. The use of tablets and technology, in general, tends to be “significantly higher on business-oriented flights,” the report said.