advertisement

Study: iPad device of choice among air travelers

ITASCA — When it comes to staying connected at 30,000 feet, tablets and smartphones now make up the majority of the devices being used to connect to the Internet through Gogo’s in-air network, according to the Itasca-based provider of commercial airline Wi-Fi technology.

Tablets are now the preferred device at 35 percent, followed closely by laptops (33 percent) and smartphones (32 percent), the company said. Apple devices in general still reign supreme, with the iPad being the device of choice to connect in air. Among all devices being used to connect through Gogo, 84 percent carry Apple’s iOS operating system while 16 percent carry the Android operating system.

For smartphones, the iPhone makes up 73 percent and Android devices make up 26 percent, with BlackBerry and Windows based devices each making up less than 1 percent of the devices being used to connect in air.

When it comes to Apple devices, 59 percent of passengers connect using the iPad, 36 percent using the iPhone and 5 percent using the iPod touch.

“We’ve certainly seen air travelers rapidly adopt the tablet as the device of choice when it comes to air travel. Their smaller size and better battery life make them perfect for use in flight,” said Ash ElDifrawi, Gogo’s chief commercial officer. “Apple continues to dominate when it comes to the flying public; however, Android devices have seen significant gains in the past two years, increasing from 3.2 percent of the operating systems used to connect through Gogo in 2011 to 16 percent.”

General Web surfing ranked as the number one use of online activity in the air. the company said. Besides Web surfing, passengers spend their time in flight accessing personal email, engaging in social media, checking sports scores and shopping. Business travelers ranked accessing their work email and finalizing reports as the most frequent activity. Passengers also utilize Gogo to explore their final destination’s weather, entertainment options and directions upon their arrival.

The data was compiled through surveys of Gogo users and using internal data compiled from the more than 35,000 average daily in-air connectivity sessions across more than 1800 Gogo equipped aircraft.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.