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Subject: Setting Up Shop in a 600 Mph Office; For Executives Who Never Stop, Airlines'
Date: Thu, 26 Nov 92 10:44:02 EST
Message-ID: <1.1992Nov26.104402@AmeriCast.com>
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Setting Up Shop in a 600 Mph Office; For Executives Who Never
Stop, Airlines' Phones and Faxes Are Hot Items<By Martha M.
Hamilton=Washington Post Staff Writer=

 Dawn Bennett, a senior vice president with Wheat, First Securi-
ties Inc. in Washington, takes a mobile telephone with her on va-
cation and thinks the idea of turning commercial airliners into
flying offices is wonderful.  "It's great. I love it. It makes
traveling a lot easier," said Bennett of the phone, fax and com-
puter connections increasingly available on commercial flights.
"I'm a workaholic and a perfectionist, and something like that
fits perfectly into my life."

 In this era of do-not-think-you-can-escape-them communications,
it was inevitable that phones and faxes would follow flyers.
With airplanes fitted out as flying offices, business travelers
who once might have used the time in the air to unwind instead
are winding up working.  "It's all part of the mobile communica-
tions evolution or revolution. People want to communicate any-
time, anywhere," said Mark S. Schneider, vice president for mark-
eting for GTE Airfone Inc., the biggest supplier of such airborne
communications equipment.

  "If you sit on a plane for two hours, you can't necessarily be
out of touch for two hours," said Schneider, who admits to taking
a fax on family vacations.

 The evolution of the airborne office has moved rapidly over the
past eight years. From the early days of the person in the next
seat shouting into the phone ("I SAID, GUESS WHERE I'M CALLING
FROM - THE SHUTTLE!"), the equipment has become more sophisticat-
ed, according to airlines and equipment suppliers.

 Within the next 12 to 18 months, all the major U.S. airlines
will be equipped with air-to-ground communication systems for
passengers, Schneider estimated.

 Originally "it was just an experiment, almost a gee-whiz thing.
Now it's very much a necessity," said Bob Ernst, director of on-
board products planning for United Airlines.

 All but three of the aircraft that United uses for domestic
flights have telephones on board, he said. The three that don't
are scheduled for early retirement.  "People would like the call
quality to be better, and the answer is, it will be soon," said
Ernst, who was calling from a United flight and whose next sen-
tence ended at midpoint when the connection broke off.

 The systems on aircraft are similar to car phones and depend on
ground networks to relay calls as the plane soars by. Early sys-
tems relayed voices directly through an analog system.

 Newer systems will rely on a digital technology, which carries
more data.

 Soon airline passengers will be able to select from a variety of
services such as stock quotes proffered on a video screen.

 The services are not cheap. A call made from a flight over the
continental United States - the cheapest service - costs $2 to
place  and $2 for every minute of conversation.

 GTE's Schneider said that arrangements vary, but that generally
the airlines and the communications companies share the revenue.
Amy Grubbe, a United flight attendant, said business travelers
pick up the phones and start working as soon as they board.

Grubbe said she would like to see systems designed to make"I
think it's tremendous. The more they make it like an office, the
more I like it."< -  Dawn Bennett them impossible to use until
after the safety instructions have been given and again right be-
fore landing.

 Before the flight takes off, the passengers who rely on the
telephones could conduct some oftheir business in the airport,
Grubbe said.  Many of these travelers have enough frequent-flyer
miles to be allowed to board early, she said.

 "They all want to get on at the same time and before the others
so they can store things, and, of course, there's first class
with the beverage service and all that before takeoff," she said.

 For Bennett, who manages money for corporate pension accounts
and calls herself passionate about a business where "anything can
happen in the space of five minutes," the office-equipped air-
craft have made life easier.

 She used to book travel to spend as little time as possible in
the air when the markets were open, but now she can travel more,
and more flexibly.

 "I have corporations who rely on me," she said. "The peace of
mind you get - I think it's tremendous. The more they make it
like an office, the more I like it."

 For others who view a flight as rare quiet time that can be used
for reading or sleeping or contemplation, there is a saving
grace, said Ernst.

 "The phone today is a call-down phone, so it gives the user the
flexibility to do that or not," he said of the phones, which
can't receive calls. "In the future, there will probably be a way
to message people on the airplane and tell them someone would
like them to call."<02:04 11-26C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
chived or redistributed.

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poration (usa@AmeriCast.COM)