Porno-Schmorno! There is no question, among reasonable adults, that pornography is bad, stupid, degrading to all humans and has no place on a plane. But should an airline police airspace for nasty MySpace pages and worse?
Yes! … just as soon as airlines outlaw romance novels, magazines, DVDs and pencil/pads with which pervs might draw dirty stick figures.
My point? It seems everyone from the flight attendants to the airlines to the media is blowing out of proportion the dangers of prurient content on planes thanks to the deployment of wireless Internet services on a few flights. It’s a problem. But Wi-Fi is not the culprit.
So, way to fuel the fire and ride the publicity, everyone. Anyone care to wear the thinking cap for a bit?
Porn on planes – POP we’ll call it — was not the prime objective for a recent interview with Southwest Airlines representatives, but it did weigh into the conversation. Because POP has reared its ugly head again in the media, let’s start there.
(NOTE: I had to pass on an invite to meet face-to-face with SWA executives and other media, while I was at the WiMAX WORLD 2008 show in Chicago, so my questions and the answers traded hands via e-mail format. More on WiMAX yet to come …)
So, I shot a few questions over to Dave Ridley, senior vice president marketing and revenue management. I expressed my opinion as stated above: porn=bad, hype=opportunistic.
Ridley, Southwest Airlines
“Our flight attendants currently deal discreetly with inappropriate behavior and materials on a case-by-case basis, Ridley said. “That would hold true for this (Wi-Fi POP) as well. Southwest does plan on blocking inappropriate Web sites as well as voice communications (VoIP) in an effort to maintain a comfortable, family-friendly environment.”
Yes a quick Google check will reveal some crazy shenanigans by pervs on planes in the last year. Seems to me, the flight attendants already have their hands full. There are some who suggest the flight attendants’ union is using the porn scare to battle Wi-Fi because this new service could increase their already crazy-full task list between take off and landing. (Personally, I subscribe to that theory and may have conceived it. Here’s why — in every coffee shop that offers Wi-Fi, if there is a poor system, or if a novice user tries to use Wi-Fi, the crew has to come over and try to help – always.) Ridley discounted this Ping theory.
“We will provide printed instructions inflight on how to connect to the service and have a dedicated 1-800 number for customers to contact once on the ground. Flight attendants won’t be required to serve as tech support!,” he said emphatically, (because his e-mail included the exclamation mark).
Well … I still have the printed instructions in my backpack from ESPN Zone in Chicago – the ones that didn’t work. So, I think I am on to something. Let’s move on.
When will the “W-A” of SWA stand for “Wi-Fi accessible?” Ridley said Southwest will test Wi-Fi in the fourth quarter, for a stretch of two to three months.
Wi-Fi for peanuts?
“Because this is a test only, we are still evaluating pricing options,” he said. “During the testing period, we will be conducting research to gain a better understanding of how our Customers would like to pay for this service.”
My opinion: I don’t expect SWA to “change it spots” over Wi-Fi – meaning if I were a betting man, I would put my money on low-cost, no frills, no surprises, good service.
Ha … but let me represent for the group collectively. We don’t want to pay for it at all. But we want it to be high-performance whether it is POP protected or not. So, I like the SWA plan. Rather than using earth-to-plane technology, SWA has enlisted a partner with technology that will beam signals from the plane to satellite and then back to earth.
What does that mean to the normal people and the porn-deprived users on board?
“In one word: bandwidth!” (Ridley got all emphatic on the keyboard again.)
Currently, SWA has Wi-Fi at gates, thanks to the various services at airports – Boingo, T-Mobile, AT&T and a few home-grown providers in some cities.
I first talked to Southwest in 2004 about Wi-Fi, a couple of years before they launched their own award-winning blog. We knew then, it was only a matter of time. I mean … this is the company that – as legend has it – was conceived on the back of a napkin over a few drinks. They are no strangers to innovation and customer service.
“In-air satellite communication definitely opens the door of opportunity and allows us to think even more broadly … most is still unforeseeable but the prospects are exciting!” he exclaimed.
Look for SWA Wi-Fi on long-haul flights, but who knows … since they fly point to point, and not hub/spoke, some planes fly long-haul and short flights in the same day. (You can bet, I will be sniffing around for Wi-Fi on any and every flight – that is, when the captain turns off the seatbelt light.)
So what about “the cubicle” – that increasingly shrinking bit of personal airspace with which business travelers, bloggers and porn enthusiasts contend as they whip out the lap top? Have you ever tried to type with your wrists rubbing on your chin?
“Southwest has above-average seat pitch which allows most passengers to comfortably lower their tray table and open a laptop – even when the person in front of them reclines,” Ridley said.
Rest assured, somehow I always sit behind the passenger who has never been on a plane before and becomes fascinated with the seat’s ability to slide forward and slam back … over and over and … “Grab your laptop! Bookmark your porn!” For that in-flight seat impact issue, I wonder if handhelds will rival laptops for airborne Wi-Fi. But, Ridley predicts laptop usage will rule.
(I am fighting the urge to type Ripley as in “Alien” … I digress …)
And you can probably rule out the possibility of in-seat workstations available for those who didn’t carry their own in-air porn kiosk (laptop). As Ripley (darn it) … Ridley … explained, that is additional weight, fuel consumption and expense which tend to remain unused anyway – judging by the in-seat phones drawing dust on other airlines.
“More and more people are traveling with personal electronic devices today making the need for airline-provided solutions obsolete.” He added.
Duh … or well said!
Speaking of “duh” … Another member of the Southwest team contributed answers as well … and that was one of her answers. (I am not sure “duh” is acceptable if one adheres to the corporate speak public affairs manual designed to render all living things comatose.) So I found the answer refreshing.
Berg ..."Duh!"
The exchange went something like this. Being the word nerd/Chuck Berry fan that I am, I asked if it would be possible – with or without porn filtering – to “ping a Ding.” (Ding is the cool little flight info. “ticker tape” service that gives you price/flight updates direct to your computer.)
“Duh!,” said Paula Berg, Southwest Airlines emerging media specialist.
Ha … emerging media … sounds like a third-word country … but what a refreshing change from the corporate-speak, sterile communiqués of most PR departments. I should expect such behavior and personality from the fun airline … the one where the former CEO flaunts his drinking and smoking and once donned boxing gloves to take on the leader of a competing airline in a charity spoof.
Berg and her team at Southwest are all about Web 2.0, emerging media and the like, with a full complement of bloggers, FaceBook teams (55,000 friends in the first few weeks), “Twitterati” (3,000 followers), YouTube videos (500K views), and LinkedIn networkers (including the CEO who once dressed/made up like Gene Simmons of KISS … but that is another story).
For more on KISS: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9902E3D8143CF930A25750C0A9639C8B63
SWA even has a Flickr feed where customers can post photos. Last week, Berg was in New York accepting a second consecutive award for their corporate blog, when an audience member reportedly jumped up to announce that she had spotted her photo on the Southwest page. Customers have posted more than 6,000 photos – porn free, I presume.
“We recognized early on that blogs and other social media channels would simply be an extension of that long held Southwest tradition,” Berg said.
Southwest follows approximately 100 airline industry bloggers. “Hey can we make that 101 and share the love?” And the bloggers (those who are not on assignment in Chicago) attend the annual media day at Southwest. Internally, Southwest’s blog Nuts About Southwest features 30+ bloggers – mechanics, customer service types, execs, flight attendants (when they have time), schedule planners … and yes, pilots … to the tune of 200,000 visitors per month.
Go nuts fo yo ownself, just in time for Halloween pranks at: http://www.blogsouthwest.com/
(Again, Southwest … share the love and link your blog to this post.)
Berg said the airline has had ups and downs with some bloggers, but nothing like the nightmare down the road at Dell, a media landmine a couple of years back.
“You can’t please all of the people all of the time, and sometimes you just have to have a thick skin,” she said. “But we value bloggers just as we do our customers and our traditional media, and that is clear in the efforts we make to reach out, build relationships, and actively participate in online conversations.”
There you have it – bloggers is peeps too.
“Our goal is to continue to stay ahead of the curve … to continue to go where our Customers are … to communicate directly with them in the formats that they prefer. But we want to do it in a way that makes sense for Southwest Airlines. We will continue to push the envelope, and we will continue to be guided by the same values that have driven our Customer communication and Customer Service for the last 37 years.”
I am pretty sure that means no POP:)
