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talking points WiFi test drive will have to wait Longer trip may bring better luck for those looking to use Southwest���s newest option by Richard N. Velotta I CO GU LU ES M T N was all set to give Southwest Airlines��� WiFi product a whirl on a recent flight. Portable WiFi-enabled device? Check. Headphones? Check. Instructions on how to access the Row 44 system? Check. Southwest���s inflight publication, Spirit Magazine, has a section that explains how to log on at 10,000 feet. Full battery charge? Check. In most airports where Southwest operates, there are charging stations with plenty of electrical outlets in the gate area. It���s fairly easy to juice up your device before you get in line to board. I was looking to test-drive the Internet capability of the system and maybe look in on Southwest���s new inflight entertainment option, an innovation the company introduced widely last month. As I boarded my flight at Salt Lake City International Airport bound for McCarran, I realized that despite all my preparations, I wouldn���t be doing any high-altitude surfing. Unfortunately 20130325_VI06_F.indd 6 Southwest, which also owns AirTran and is operating it as a subsidiary, has nearly integrated the two companies. There are now just three daily AirTran flights, two a day to Atlanta and one a day to Orange County, from Las Vegas. Southwest also serves those destinations from McCarran so it won���t be long before the AirTran brand disappears. Southwest also announced the return of one of its seasonal operations beginning Sept. 29. Nonstop round trips will run between Las Vegas and Jacksonville, Fla. Including the new Des Moines flights, that will make 55 nonstop markets from McCarran for Southwest, easily the largest presence of any airline flying here. Jacksonville to Las Vegas is one of Southwest���s longest trips, just shy of five hours��� flying time. With that kind of time, it would be a great opportunity to try out the airline���s WiFi and entertainment operations. Southwest says it is the first air carrier to stream live broadcasts to passengers��� personal devices. State���s abysmal performance in per capita federal funding should have populace alarmed ashington wants to give swing states such as Nevada money, and Nevada needs to let Washington give it. Each year, the federal government offers thousands of competitive grant opportunities for states, municipalities and organizations, often totaling more than $100��billion nationally. Currently, Nevada gets less than its fair share. How much is Nevada losing out on? Between 2009 and 2011, excluding stimulus money, the state received the fewest grant dollars per person of any state in the Mountain West region. In fact, in 2009, other Mountain West states averaged about $215 per person in competitive grants. Nevada received less 6 of live news and sports programming. WiFi service can be bought for $8 a day, per device, which includes stops and connecting flights. So if you���re flying to the East Coast and your plane stops in Chicago, you don���t have to pay another $8 on your connecting flight. You don���t have to buy WiFi access to get the movie and television offerings. The sign-on is easy: Just connect to ���southwestwifi,��� open a browser and it will direct the user to an entertainment portal which also includes a free retail site, a flight tracker and some games. Southwest says it is the first air carrier to stream live broadcasts to passengers��� personal devices. The airline, McCarran���s busiest, also announced some other Las Vegas news. This month, the company opened a new market for Las Vegas with nonstop flights to and from Des Moines, Iowa, beginning Sept. 29. It will compete with Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air. Nevada gets nowhere near its share by John Hudak W for me, I was climbing onto one of Southwest���s Boeing 737-300 jet models. The airline���s -300 and -500 series 737s aren���t going to have WiFi. Those planes are next in line to be retired by the airline, so the company won���t equip them. There are 148 of the old planes in the fleet of 569 jets, so there���s about a 1 in 4 chance of getting on a plane that doesn���t have the satellite-driven technology. A high percentage of flights that pass through Las Vegas are on long hauls on Southwest���s 737-700 and -800 planes. But the short flights could have an older plane. Southwest made the announcement last month that it had completed its WiFi enabling program as well as access to movies on demand and streamed television broadcasts. Movies on demand cost $5 per film, per device and there are some archived TV series episodes also available. In addition, Southwest offers eight channels than $130. This shortfall is not just a regional phenomenon. Nevada ranks 49th in competitive grant dollars per capita. What makes this funding situation more dire and absolutely shocking is that the politics of federal grant allocations normally lets a state such as Nevada reap an embarrassment of riches ��� not simply an embarrassment. States with power in Congress tend to receive more grant money. Swing states tend to receive more. States with deeper need tend to receive more. Nevada tends to be all of these things. Sen. Harry Reid has been in the Senate leadership since 2001. Nevada has been a swing state for most of the past six presidential elections. And the rapidly growing population has led to profound social, economic and policy needs. The political stars have aligned for Nevada but the state has failed. Attention must be paid to the state government���s lack of effort. For many grant programs, regardless of the final recipient of money, state agencies are required to serve as the applicant. Success in this arena requires leadership from the governor���s office down through the heads of state agencies. These leaders must publicize opportunities throughout communities, build relationships with federal agencies and, most important, invest in high-quality grant writers. It is also crucial to change the cultural view that federal funding is bad, is welfare, shows weakness and is fiscally irresponsible. Federal funding helps balance state and local budgets and can reduce local tax burdens. Additional grant money to Nevada does not increase federal deficits, either. Congress has already appropriated the money. If Nevada does not get the funding, another state will get more. These states will have better schools, more effective health care systems, more efficient energy sources, higher levels of exports and cutting edge research. The Silver State will have the status quo. It is time Nevadans start asking where the federal funding is. John Hudak is a fellow of governance studies at the Brookings Institution. What makes this funding situation shocking is that the politics normally lets a state such as Nevada reap an embarrassment of riches. | 25 MARCH 2013 | 3/21/13 2:17:09 PM