As of today, American Airlines is the first company to offer its customers onboard Internet access. The company announced that for now the service will be available on its Boeing 767-200 aircrafts, running flight between New York and Los Angeles, New York and Miami, and New York and San Francisco.

The contestants in the race for providing the service included Southwest Airlines, Virgin America, JetBlue Airways and Delta Air Lines. Delta’s officials actually presented their upcoming offer, which will include a fleet of 330 aircrafts, as the first such initiative, but it seems that American Airlines beat them to it.

Passengers will be able to enjoy a good Internet connection throughout their flights for $12.95. The service is available through a ground-based system known as GoGo, developed by a company called Aircell, which handles broadband for both private and commercial aviation.

"Today the days of being cut off from the rest of the world while in the air become history," said Jack Blumenstein, chief executive of Aircell LLC, the company providing Internet services for American and other airlines.

This upgrade is considered critical for maintaining a successful business, as many of the constant travelers depend on the Internet and being without it for several hours is considered a tragedy. It is also a very good way of turning the flight into a more enjoyable experience.

The GoGo service will certainly be adopted by many of the airline companies, and some of them have already begun testing it on their aircrafts. Virgin America announced that by the end of the year the service will be available and Delta Air Lines also scheduled the launch for next year.