How NetForecast Helps Airlines Meet DOT Rule on Wi-Fi Refunds

A few excepts from a recent Runway Girl Network Article (June 30, 2024)

A new US DOT final rule that requires airlines to proactively issue refunds to passengers who pay for inflight Wi-Fi but don’t receive the service took effect on 25 June as part of sweeping new consumer protections spearheaded by the Biden-Harris Administration.

“It is important that Wi-Fi service availability be measured from user devices because measurements taken within the network cannot reflect what the passenger is actually experiencing. To help airlines comply with the new rule, we provide airlines with seat-level Wi-Fi availability data by flight so fees can be proactively refunded,” suggested Wetzel [NetForecast president and CEO].

Even before the DOT rule went into effect, it made sense for airlines to be armed with this sort of granular data, as it enables them to track dead spots on certain flight paths to anticipate them and to course-correct, ensuring that passengers are connected. But now it seems clear that a threshold should in fact be set by any airline that serves the US market and charges for inflight Wi-Fi. Naturally, this information would need to be imparted clearly at the time of payment.

Read the full article on Runway Girl Network: