From time-to-time, typically when I’m in one of the many airports Southwest serves (like Manchester, NH) that provide their passengers free wireless access to the Internet, I like to mention how doing so can save the airline and airport operational expenses — and, for a growing number of passengers — serve as a factor in judging the quality of the airport experience. There is a long wiki-style list on SmallBusiness.com of airports that offer FREE wifi: many airports have figured out the benefits of offering it. (In the 1960s, they figured out air conditioning and sometime before, the benefits of public washroom facilities.) As I have noted here, free wifi in airports can provide the facilities management the opportunity to help passengers self-manage re-booking, re-routing situations and can help market the retail and restaurant options in the airport. It is not an expense to provide free wifi: trying to make it a profit center is a loser.
