It wouldn't have been rare at all because it wasn't rare.

Yes, you wouldn't be video chatting (and still shouldn't be... it is a plane for crying out loud). But emails were 100% a thing and I had plenty of gchat conversations with colleagues that included the phrase "We are about to land, Ill get back to you when I am at my hotel".

Okay, THIS I need someone with a more reliable brain to chime in on. But I want to say it was actually easier to IM on a plane (assuming your employer paid for the wifi which was expensive as hell) than in an airport due to a mix of cell phone dead spots and shit APs in most of the major airports.