More than 2,100 passengers have tested Alaska Airlines’ new Wi-Fi system, with the overwhemling majority indicating that they would like to try it again. Alaska introduced the system on one Boeing 737-700 in late February. The airline — which is offering the service for free during the trial period — said it is still trying to figure out the best price point for the service.

Alaska says travelers like their new system, which was built in conjunction with Row 44. Of those surveyed, 78 percent said they were "extremely likely" or "very likely" to recommend it. More than 75 percent rated the service "excellent" or "very good." 

TechFlash readers offered some suggestions a few weeks ago on pricing, ranging from free to $15 per flight. (Let’s hope they promote it better than the botched free Wi-Fi plan at Sea-Tac Airport.) 

I am about ready to hop on a plane myself for a short trip back to the East Coast. Unfortuantely, I don’t think it will offer Wi-Fi, so I spent last night loading my iPhone with podcasts, videos and saved stories from The New York Times. (Just for old times sake, I also bought a printed version of The Economist.)

I’ve never experienced Wi-Fi in the sky, so I would be curious to hear if any travelers have had good or bad experiences? I am also curious about your high-tech rituals in getting ready for a long flight — from charging the laptop to loading driving directions on the phone.

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and Washington jobless rate makes historic climb, topping 9 percent  

Washington state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate climbed to 9.2 percent in March, according to figures released today by the Employment Security Department. The information services sector, which includes software publishing and telecommunications, lost 400 jobs (about 0.4 percent) compared with the previous month.

The overall unemployment rate is up from 8.3 percent in February. It’s the third straight month that the rate has increased by more than 0.5 percentage points, according to the state. The state described that part of the trend as unprecedented. During the last three U.S. recessions, the state’s monthly unemployment rate increased by more than 0.5 percent only once — in November 2001.

Read the full report here: PDF, 9 pages.

According to the state, an estimated 344,069 people were unemployed and looking for work in the state last month.

The state described the job losses in the information services sector as more moderate than in other sectors. Microsoft’s first wave of layoffs, including 872 jobs in Washington state, officially took effect in late March, two months after the company’s January announcement.

Update, 11:15 a.m.: State officials said on a conference call that the March numbers reported today do not yet include the impact of the Microsoft layoffs, because they took place later in the month.

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and Verizon Wireless hiring 250  Verizon Wireless is expanding its Bellevue operations, with plans to add 250 call-center jobs this year. The company said it would start hiring this week.

"These individuals will manage call center support, serving business customers of all sizes, as well as a variety of financial service functions for the general consumer including payments and bill adjustments," Verizon Wireless said in a statement. The company said it plans to hold a job fair at its Bellevue Call Center on May 12.

Verizon Wireless, based in Basking Ridge, N.J., is a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone. The business has 1,300 people at its Bellevue campus and more than 2,000 people in Washington state.

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Shares of Dendreon more than double after key clinical study  

The Seattle biotech industry finally got a shot of good news today when Dendreon announced that its prostate cancer drug had a positive impact on men suffering from the disease. The stock is soaring, more than tripling in early trading today to a 52-week high of $22.10. The stock is now up more than 140 percent, trading around $17.30 in heavy trading.

"The positive results from this landmark study provide confirmatory evidence demonstrating that treatment with PROVENGE may prolong survival," said Dendreon CEO Mitchell Gold in a statement.

The New York Times has a good overview of the long history of the drug, noting that Food and Drug Administration’s controversial decision two years ago not to approve Provenge. From the Times:

The F.D.A.’s decision two years ago ignited an outcry from some prostate cancer patients and from investors in Dendreon, who said the agency was being unreasonable and denying patients a treatment that might work. Tensions ran so high at one point that two prostate cancer specialists, who had urged the F.D.A. not to approve the drug, attended a major conference accompanied by bodyguards, saying they had been threatened.

Dendreon plans to release detailed results from the study at the American Urological Association’s Annual Meeting in Chicago later this month.

In a conference call this morning, Gold told investors and analysts that the results were "unambiguous” in terms of prolonging survival, reports Xconomy.  

Founded in 1992, Dendreon last year had revenue of $111,000 and a net loss of $71.6 million. It finished the year with $108 million in cash.

With today’s results, the company is one step closer to bringing a commercial drug to market to help treat prostate cancer.

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