Southwest Airlines today announced plans to test broadband Internet access via satellite on multiple aircraft in its fleet. Unlike, say, JetBlue's planned Wi-Fi offering, Southwest will offer full browsing, including VPN access, through a partnership with Row 44 (just like Alaska Airlines' planned trial).

But according to CNET News' Daniel Terdiman, the Wi-Fi enabled routes will be chosen at random. "Spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said Wednesday morning that initially Southwest plans to test the service on four planes," he writes. "But because the airline's planes fly many different routes, she did not anticipate - at least not yet - that travelers would be able to plan to fly on one of those planes."

More here from Jaunted ... more here from Mashable ... more here from Airline Biz Blog ... and the press release is here.