Any time frame on when WiFi will appear on Qantas 787s long haul?

[SYD]

Spending $12,000 for coughpy qantas business is a much greater issue for mine.

The fare in question is ~$5,600. Unfortunately my travel diary is full otherwise I would have jumped on it (even if it meant getting another bloody Chile visa).

 

[Vic]

I can’t really agree here. There are lots of work circumstances where you need to connect with other people or databases etc at any time of the day. Not necessarily constantly, but on demand shall we say?

When I was working in Sydney, I was working on deals with offices in New York and London and that was over 20 years ago!

Now I travel retired with my tablet, not my laptop. Only thumbnails of most files stored on the tablet and when I want to access them I download from OneDrive.

But possibly the most significant thing for me in having constant Wi-Fi means I can please myself as to what I do on-line and when. Sort of the same as dine on demand is better than fixed meal times.

Fairly enough. Unfortunately, the OP hasn't really given info on why connection is vital. MY speculation is what would happen when the OP goes on their protected annual leave; do they need to be connected? They're paid to work 8 hours a day, do they need to be connected for the other 16 hours a day.
My impression of the OP is they're considering sightseeing, a holiday. So what do they do when they take leave otherwise? Does the business not have contingencity for 12-16 hours not connected?
Absolutely, agree there might be an on demand element. Just think that can be planned.

I certainly work at all hours of the day and night, but I also don't really stay turned on 24/7. Maybe I'm just (un)lucky enought that I have plenty of stuff (reading/writing) that I can do off line.
Agreed that flexibility to be connected is nice to have (loved the wifi voucher on the EY B777) just not sure it is need to have. If it is need to have how is the business ever letting the OP have a holiday?

Just a note, its a stipulation of Starlink that any airlines offering it does so free of charge. At least that's in their contracts for now.

Thanks for the info. I wonder how that goes with starlink requiring payment for the connection tehcnology?

The fare in question is ~$5,600. Unfortunately my travel diary is full otherwise I would have jumped on it (even if it meant getting another bloody Chile visa).

Thanks for the clarification. Based my comment on the below from the OP.

It certainly is the very major reason I chose not to make this 12K booking today, I was about to proceed with, and will not be alone in that view I am sure. There are endless options out there.

 

[elanshin]

Thanks for the info. I wonder how that goes with starlink requiring payment for the connection tehcnology?

Thats just for the airlines to their passengers. SpaceX would be charging $$$$ to the airlines for the service. But being currently best in class has market power for them to throw their weight around.

 

[justinbrett]

So yeah the differences in the technology mean there are massive difference between QF going vissat and QR going starlink

I wasn’t referring to the difference in tech (I actually said they were competing technologies), I was just saying I don’t know why QR gets a pass for rolling out its Starlink but QF gets slammed for rolling out viasat. Both airlines have aircraft with coverage and a lot of aircraft without. Both will take time to rollout.

Viasat have announced they are doing LEO as well so I don’t know how anyone can say they will be inferior. I predict it will be a Coke/Pepsi situation in the fullness of time.

How long has QFd had wifi? It’s been many years now. Fantastic service that has always been free. I’m sure glad they didn’t wait for Starlink, and domestic is where people want wifi the most.

The Musk factor has brought a huge cloud over the future of Tesla, and the question is whether that will extend to Starlink. Not hard to see why a lot of customers will choose Viasat especially as it has held most of the inflight internet contracts for a long time.

 

[TeaKozy]

How long has QFd had wifi? It’s been many years now. Fantastic service that has always been free. I’m sure glad they didn’t wait for Starlink, and domestic is where people want wifi the most.

I too couldn't care less about the technology, but MEL-PER frequently drops out over the Bight - one would hope that the roaming capability onto alternate satellites can be retrofitted to the domestic fleet (and that Qantas pay for it). My experience on recent flights has been mixed, obviously contingent on the number of pax onboard (MEL-SIN in particular struggling given the late afternoon timing and presumably everyone being online).

Qantas have offered some form of airborne communications for customers since (at least) 2016 however - flying back from LAX, my then boss asked the CSM if there was any way of getting the current footy scores for a WCE game. About 20 minutes later he returned with a printout from the flight deck with goals and points for the first three quarters.

 

[justinbrett]

I too couldn't care less about the technology, but MEL-PER frequently drops out over the Bight - one would hope that the roaming capability onto alternate satellites can be retrofitted to the domestic fleet (and that Qantas pay for it). My experience on recent flights has been mixed, obviously contingent on the number of pax onboard (MEL-SIN in particular struggling given the late afternoon timing and presumably everyone being online).

Qantas have offered some form of airborne communications for customers since (at least) 2016 however - flying back from LAX, my then boss asked the CSM if there was any way of getting the current footy scores for a WCE game. About 20 minutes later he returned with a printout from the flight deck with goals and points for the first three quarters.

Yes all of QF’s fleet will be able to access Viasat, as those same aircraft will be going to NZ which is out of range of Skymuster.

I have a similar story for onboard results of a state of origin game! The FA was saying the captain wanted to make an announcement about who won but was talked out of it in case people didn’t want the spoiler.

 

[milehighclub]

Last update I heard was October onwards for the first 787 to go in

 

[Vic]

I wasn’t referring to the difference in tech (I actually said they were competing technologies), I was just saying I don’t know why QR gets a pass for rolling out its Starlink but QF gets slammed for rolling out viasat. Both airlines have aircraft with coverage and a lot of aircraft without. Both will take time to rollout.

Viasat have announced they are doing LEO as well so I don’t know how anyone can say they will be inferior. I predict it will be a Coke/Pepsi situation in the fullness of time.

How long has QFd had wifi? It’s been many years now. Fantastic service that has always been free. I’m sure glad they didn’t wait for Starlink, and domestic is where people want wifi the most.

The Musk factor has brought a huge cloud over the future of Tesla, and the question is whether that will extend to Starlink. Not hard to see why a lot of customers will choose Viasat especially as it has held most of the inflight internet contracts for a long time.

The tech is the reason for the difference in views between both airlines. The issue is not at the aircraft end it is at the satellite end. Having an aircraft with "coverage" is useless if there is nothing to connect out to. It's pretty well known that Qantas connectivity is pretty much limited to continental Australia. That's just a fact not a judgement.
I certainly never said vissat was inferior, I just pointed out the difference in technology and the implications. Plenty of others in thread talking about the high latency and connection issues with Qantas.
QR have opted for technology, later than QF, that is more responsive. Again just a fact. But the different choosen technology is, IMO, why there are different reactions to each airline's wifi availability.
Yes, vissat have purchased IMMarSAT that had plans for a LEO constellation. Vissat are also still launching Vissat 3 satellites for a project that started back in 2015.

I too couldn't care less about the technology, but MEL-PER frequently drops out over the Bight - one would hope that the roaming capability onto alternate satellites can be retrofitted to the domestic fleet (and that Qantas pay for it). My experience on recent flights has been mixed, obviously contingent on the number of pax onboard (MEL-SIN in particular struggling given the late afternoon timing and presumably everyone being online).

The dropouts are due to the technology. Great that you're agnositic about the technology, unfortunately that does not remove the fact that the technology determines the service that can be provided.
Switch to another satellite? Vissat have 4 satellites, plus 3 more with Vissat 3, to cover the whole world. You need line of sight to connect.

Qantas have offered some form of airborne communications for customers since (at least) 2016 however - flying back from LAX, my then boss asked the CSM if there was any way of getting the current footy scores for a WCE game. About 20 minutes later he returned with a printout from the flight deck with goals and points for the first three quarters.

I'm not sure a system that provides text data via radio-telemetry is up to the task of providing wifi for pax. Again a technology thing. I don't know the exact date but it is probably fair to say that the majority of commercial aircraft have had radio (a form of airborne communication) since some time shortly after WW2.

 

[justinbrett]

Just to make it clear what viasat actually covers (noting that viasat3 EMEA and APAC are due to launch later this year):

 

[milehighclub]

Qantas have offered some form of airborne communications for customers since (at least) 2016 however - flying back from LAX, my then boss asked the CSM if there was any way of getting the current footy scores for a WCE game. About 20 minutes later he returned with a printout from the flight deck with goals and points for the first three quarters.

That system has been around since 1978 - ACARS - Wikipedia

 

[moa999]

That system has been around since 1978 - ACARS - Wikipedia

And is not much more advanced than having someone in the coughpit tapping away in Morse code.

Per Vic's post there are numerous satellite options each with advantages and disadvantages and coverage sweetspots.
And you have much better choices over land rather than ocean given that's where most geo satellites make their money.
Leo satellites are a little different as they have to fly over oceans due to their orbit.