To amuse myself on long flights, I have to think ahead. Since I'm a fast reader, this means making sure I have enough books and magazines to keep me occupied. If it's an especially long flight, perhaps I'll bring a DVD to watch on my laptop, since only Emirates Airlines captions in-flight movies. Of course, there's always good old-fashioned conversation, should I be so inclined.

But soon there will be a good reason to be anti-social and not as much need for advance preparation. I'll be able to Instant Message with my friends, surf the Internet, and even catch up with my email to avoid the avalanche I usually get after hours without access. Perhaps I can even make telephone calls via i711.com.

It'll feel like I'm in my living room!

Now that Internet access seems ubiquitous these days, it truly will be. Aircell - a communications operator company - has received two critical FAA approvals that will bring in-flight mobile broadband connectivity one step closer to the flying public. Aircell is the only company that has air-to-ground mobile broadband for U.S. domestic flights. According to an Aircell press release, Aircell is now producing the equipment needed to bring its in-flight Internet service to American Airlines and Virgin America in 2008.

"Enough manufacturing capacity is in place to accommodate rapid service introduction to all future partners as well," the press release also states.

Of course, this service doesn't come without a price. If you want WiFi on an American Airlines flight that's over three hours long, it'll likely cost $12.95. Shorter flights will be $10. JetBlue has a complimentary service, but it only supports email on two Blackberry devices and Yahoo! Mail and Messenger, using technology developed through the airline's LiveTV subsidiary. The difference with Aircell is that it provides full Web access.

Interestingly, an article by Henry Hartveldt for Forrester Research Inc. speculates that the Internet will signal the beginning of the end of "traditional" in-flight entertainment - a trend that can only be good for us.

If you're curious about statistics, Hartveldt says that on the shortest of flights - an hour or less - 15 percent of leisure passengers are interested in going online. This soars to 55 percent on long-haul flights of four hours or more. "And while most passengers want access for free, 45 percent say that they would pay $10 to go online on flights of four or more hours," Hartveldt writes. So, in an age where laptop ownership has increased, and seven in ten U.S. online leisure passengers embrace technology, it's about time WiFi hit the skies.

Just think - in a few years, our biggest in-flight issue won't be how to occupy ourselves. It will be how to surf the 'net and respond to email without our seatmates looking over our shoulders as we type away in our traveling living rooms.

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