American will offer Gogo on its 15 Boeing 767-200s, which means all JFK-LAX routes and some JFK-SFO and JFK-MIA (Miami) routes. The test will likely stress the system because more people will get on than on a typical flight since they won't be paying, and I would guess a lot of people will immediately try streaming video just to see if it works.

The full-on launch is still a pilot project even though it involves so many planes, routes, and passengers.

BoingBoing's Xeni Jardin asked me to participate in an interview call today with execs from Aircell and American Airlines, and I've written up the full account for their site.

Among other interesting tidbits I learned today, the onboard systems have 800 GB of capacity for future expansion--streaming media, most likely--and the AA-configured 767-200 has power outlets scattered around coach, and at every seat in first and business class.

Jardin notes that Virgin is thinking about what gets cached on planes. I would note that the idea of onboard media and caching servers is a great one, because it means that passengers could ostensibly stream or purchase downloadable digital content; and that whenever an airplane lands, its servers could automatically suck in at 802.11n speeds from a gate-mounted access point all the latest data to cache, including video.

On the cost of fuel to carry the Wi-Fi gear--probably a total of 200 pounds of dead weight and drag, based on information that Aircell and others have been giving out--I may have been close tot the mark when I suggested it was $50 for a cross country flight a few days ago.

The excellent Scott McCartney, author of The Middle Seat column in The Wall Street Journal, ran down the numbers on 10-June, and he says LAX-JFK costs about $500 per passenger when all the costs are figured out. But that includes all fuel divided by average passenger count: that is, the weight of the plane, everything in it, and its drag are all contributors.

That means that an added couple of passengers due to the availability of Wi-Fi; their willingness or the overall willingness to pay slightly more for the flight (which would be even fuller if more people want on); and the airlines' cut of a dozen or sessions per flight could clearly outweigh the gas cost.

However, the changing nature of the end-to-end principle is increasing the significance of barriers that stem from industry structure — which companies are hosting controversial information, where they do business, what markets do they compete in and what corporate partnerships are involved. The direction these take will have a significant impact on the scale of Internet censorship.

The rest of the journal is well worth reading, with authors including Xeni Jardin, David Weinberger and Jimmy Wales. I can especially recommend taking a look at Nart Villeneuve’s article, “Evasion Tactics”, also published on his blog. Unfortunately access to the full online version is restricted to subscribers.