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Air-bound travelers this holiday season will find that they don't have to worry about being disconnected from the Internet, even for a few hours. The Google Chrome browser team has joined with three airlines to offer free in-flight Wi-Fi on more than 700 planes for approximately 15 million passengers this holiday season.

This is the second year in a row that Google has offered free Wi-Fi, with the program expanding this year to three airlines - AirTran, Delta and Virgin America. According to the Free Holiday Wi-Fi website, the deal will last from Nov. 20, 2010 through Jan. 2, 2011. To connect, simply search for the Gogo Inflight network and connect your device.

If you're asking yourself "Why?", just take a look at last year's program. According to The Next Web, users of the free Wi-Fi were sent to a landing page promoting the Nexus One, just before its launch. This year, we imagine, those 15 million potential customers will see a splash page promoting Google's ever-growing entry into the browser market, Google Chrome. We have to wonder how much of a push a campaign like this could give to the number three browser.

As Google notes in its press release, if flying used to be your excuse to disconnect, it will be no more:

Not too long ago, flying home for the holidays meant disconnecting for several hours until you touched down at your destination. Today, Wi-Fi technologies allow us to stay connected even at 30,000 feet above the ground, so we can read the news, browse the web (to beat the long-haul boredom) and send that last-minute planning email before the family reunion. This holiday season, there will be more connected flyers than ever before.

Personally, I never found flying all that relaxing in the first place, so having some Wi-Fi to pass the time and get some work done sounds great. I'd rather spend my disconnected time on the ground and with friends and family than on a plane. Cheers, Google.