Lufthansa ’s in - flying net service could be grounded and the company is n’t glad .

“ We ’re going to be very thwarted if we ca n’t provide this service , which many of our customers , especially on prospicient flights to North America and Asia , have really come to apprise , ” said Lufthansa spokesman Michael Lamberty in an interview Friday .

On Thursday , Boeing denote plan to phase out its Connexion by Boeing service , bequeath what it once consider a promising market for in - flight of stairs cyberspace memory access .

When Boeing fist announced plan to offer onboard Internet military service in 2000 , legion airline business , especially the long - haul carriers in the U.S. , testify huge stake . But by the time the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approved the table service in May 2002 , the nation ’s airway were reeling from a travel depression that espouse the Sept. 11 , 2001 , terrorist attacks .

In November , Boeing ’s three primary backers , American Airlines , Delta Air Lines and United Airlines , pulled out of the project .

“ Boeing based a good glob of its computing on U.S. carriers , and they ended up backing out after Sept. 11 , ” Lamberty said .

Lufthansa now faces the possibility of give birth to root for the hack on a service that has become popular among customers on prospicient flights , according to Lamberty . “ The service has been very well take on , ” he say .

precise number are n’t available but up to 40 client have been using the table service on a single trajectory , harmonise to Lamberty . Customers pay US$ 9.95 per 60 minutes or $ 26.95 for 24 hours , which could admit plug in fight .

Of Lufthansa ’s 80 longsighted - haulage airplanes , 62 are equipped with the Connexion engineering .

The German airline business was the first to offer the in - escape service . “ We were also heavily Byzantine in developing the technology , ” Lamberty say . “ Our unit Lufthansa Technik dally a heavy role . ”

Boeing ’s German subsidiary declined to comment .

Lufthansa is one of several airlines volunteer the Connexion by Boeing service , include All Nippon Airways , Japan Airlines System and Scandinavian Airline Systems .