Southwest Airlines says it’s finished testing Wi-Fi Internet access on four aircraft and plans to expand the service to all its planes beginning early next year,reports USA Today.

The airline said Friday that the test has generated raves among passengers.

Southwest said it would continue testing prices for the service through the end of the year.

Media release from American Airlines

American Airlines reached a major milestone this week with its Gogo Inflight Internet service. The Wi-Fi service is now available on 100 MD-80 aircraft, which is two-thirds of the 150 Gogo installations scheduled to be completed by the end of 2009.

One year ago today, American was the first U.S. airline to launch the Gogo service. Since then, thousands of customers traveling on American’s 15 Boeing 767-200 aircraft and select MD-80 aircraft have enjoyed the onboard Wi-Fi service while flying across the United States.

U.S. airlines are adding Wi-Fi to more of their planes, reports ComputerWorld, but it could still be years before the biggest carriers have their fleets fully equipped with the wireless technology and passengers can expect to have access to e-mail and the Internet when they board any flight.

Behind-the-scenes areas at Tampa International Airport where bags get screened for explosives and hauled out to planes will soon get scrutiny around the clock, says the St. Petersburg Times.

The Washington Post reports that U.S. airlines on Saturday will begin asking travelers to provide their birth date and sex for the first time under a new aviation security requirement.