Google holiday gift: Free in-flight Wi-Fi

Google is offering free in-flight Wi-Fi access to an estimated 15 million passengers this holiday season, the company announced on Monday.

The gesture by the web-search giant will be offered on all internal US flights operated by Delta, Virgin America and Air-Tran. The three carriers recently outfitted their fleets with airborne Wi-Fi capabilities offered by the company Gogo Inflight Wi-Fi, which usually charges between $11 and $13 for 24 hours of airborne Wi-Fi access.

Last year, Google sponsored free Wi-Fi in 50 US airports. This year, the gift will be sponsored by the company's Chrome browser and will be available on all Air-Tran, Delta and Virgin America flights from November 20 through January 2, 2011.