Inflight Entertainment

[Light Years]

tadjr brought up a point in another post that we have equiptment for IFE on pretty much all of our aircraft but dont use it. What are the costs? They are too high for us to have it but its fine for JetBlue?

Management has been comparing us to low cost carriers alot lately (funny, we all thought we were a major. Werent we?). So why is it that one can fly JFK-BUF on a low cost carrier watching TV, but fly almost cross country on US staring at raggy three month old SkyMall?

With the exception of Northwest, as far as I know every other "legacy carrier" not only uses thier IFE equiptment on almost every flight but in many cases it is complimentary. Passenger expectations food wise have been pretty much lowered, but IFE has become a strong product differentiator. Look at Deltas Song product, or the fact that JetBlue is putting thier LiveTV product on thier EMBRAERS.

Instead of being reactionary as usual, maybe US should set out to offer a quality product. Bring back boarding music, audio channels, short subject videos, arrival information videos (remember those- info about the airport for the hubs etc). Looking at the Attache, we have access to programming that people want to see, even aside from the movies. (Except that "Buntings Window" show they used to have... do we still show that? It was awful :blink: ) Sell headsets for a one time fee of ten dollars, and they can keep them. Also, a customer already seated in a gray seat staring at a monitor is the best advertising segment US could ask for.

Or, we could be really revolutionary and outfit all of our mainline aircraft (or at least the Airbuses) with the P@ssport system, and on our EMBs have a universal system like our narrowbodies do- there are new systems today that are basically DVD players and are smaller and cheaper than those cumbersome VHS and Hi8s or whatever they were called. The first major airline to either install Personal TVs at every seat, and/or introduce any kind of IFE on a regional jet will get all sorts of free publicity. Have you ever seen an article about JetBlue that doesn't call them "JetBlue with plush leather seats and TV in every seat"? It would be nice to hear something like that instead of "beleagured/troubled/stuggling/why-are-they-still-here US Airways".

I know, all of this costs money, but so does chasing your customers away by just cutting things until your product is completley undesirable. Thats my rant for the evening. Anyone? 🙂

 

[T-bone]

I have a better idea, if you want a lot of passengers (full planes=$$$$) FREE BEER!!!!

 

[Light Years]

I can't see any flight attendant supporting that idea. Shuttle, yes, Premium cabins, yes... coach? No no no no no no no no no Maybe with 10 air marshalls onboard

 

[T-bone]

Shucks I suppose your right. In this day and age it is a little more weird. But once upon a time an Airline called Allegheny used just such a lure on some of it's most profitable routs, I beleive they were called gas light service. It worked.

 

[JS]

Here's a novel idea -- forget about the idiot boxes. How about friendly in-flight service with snacks on short flights and meals on long flights?

The friendly service costs nothing, albeit difficult to implement with some people 😉 . Adding TV or snacks/meals would cost money to implement, but by going the snack/meal route, you have product differentiation.

 

[Light Years]

Actually, I think the costs of installing and maintaining IFE systems is lower than paying for catering and meal supplies at many stations. Like I said, people really arent complaining about the loss of food- and the one service element other carriers are using to differentiate thenselves is entertainment.

Oh well. After everyone else does it, we will two years later if we're still around. As usual, if the fashion is in Manhattan, US Airways is in Omaha.

 

[tadjr]

The friendly service costs nothing, albeit difficult to implement with some people 😉 . Adding TV or snacks/meals would cost money to implement, but by going the snack/meal route, you have product differentiation.

I am sure there are lots of groups out there who would love to have their music featured free of charge on USAirways flights. I know of one Russian group that is currently touring the country trying to promote their CD who would probably be thrilled to have it played on every USAirways flight for free just to get the air time. There have to be other groups that are in the same situation. No one said the music had to be the latest hits played, just something to pass the time. Same goes for the video group. I'm sure there have got to be people who want the exposure and are willing to give it away or show it with commercials like they are aired on tv to pay for it. Also I would be willing to bet that there are some PBS stations that could supply interesting shows with the same thought in mind. Free exposure to thousands of people who might not otherwise turn on a PBS channel.

 

[RowUnderDCA]

Actually, I think the costs of installing and maintaining IFE systems is lower than paying for catering and meal supplies at many stations. Like I said, people really arent complaining about the loss of food- and the one service element other carriers are using to differentiate thenselves is entertainment.

Oh well. After everyone else does it, we will two years later if we're still around. As usual, if the fashion is in Manhattan, US Airways is in Omaha.

Well,

I'm going to complain.... sorry.

I won't be able to complain about the meals for sale, since I had the bad luck of being really hungry and having purchased a first class ticket with miles, I didn't get to try one.

Boy, it's really disappointing to listen to the great description over the PA of what the 'inflight cafe' offering is and then be served a puny salad with a cookie. I didn't even get chips!

I was tempted to turn it back and ask to buy the shrimp salad.

I'm neutral on the idea of selling food in the cabin. Basically, I think it's fine if it isn't too distracting for the fa's. But why create an opportunity for dissatisfaction.

I'm sure there's a reason why it's better not to offer the first class pax a choice of what's being sold in economy, but it's hard to understand when you're hungry after you eat the first class offering.

 

[KCFlyer]

So...what's the "fare" offered by inflight television? Sports? News? Infomercials? TV Land reruns? Offer me a convenient flight at a reasonable price and I'll bring my own entertainment - a good book.

Seatback TV's are still somewhat new...what's going to happen when these things start breaking down? How much money will an airline offer to an upset customer who couldn't watch reruns of the Dukes of Hazzard because the TV for his seat was on the fritz? How many TV's have to break before an otherwise airworthy aircraft is grounded? And will the TV's not cost anything to fix when they do (and they will) break?

 

[tadjr]

If we dont want to ADD tvs to each seat, thats one thing, but we currently have planes flying around with audio and video monitors that do nothing. I am saying use what we have to offer something to those who are fortunate enough to be on a plane that has them. Its not something extra that has to be added, we already have it on some planes. It just depends on which flight you are on if you will get it. Now, it just sits there blank all flight.
"Ladies and gentlemen, today's flight is equipped with audio and video for your enjoyment. While all of our aircraft are not equipped for this service, please enjoy your flight today that has this EXTRA feature."
If it doesnt have it onboard, don't mention it.

Regarding the FC meals vs coach. I'm sure we get a special deal on the FC meals by allowing Vie to sell the others in the back, but I think we should be offering the same thing to both cabins, even if it does cost a little to put it in FC. They're charging customers $10, so how much could the difference be to US? I think it would make FC seem , as our illustrious leader says, A SUPERIOR product, right. Its still not steak and lobster, but it would be better than the little snack they currently offer. Sometimes appearances do make a difference, but we also know that appearances dont seem to matter to some in CCY.

 

[Phantom Fixer]

So...what's the "fare" offered by inflight television? Sports? News? Infomercials? TV Land reruns? Offer me a convenient flight at a reasonable price and I'll bring my own entertainment - a good book.

Seatback TV's are still somewhat new...what's going to happen when these things start breaking down? How much money will an airline offer to an upset customer who couldn't watch reruns of the Dukes of Hazzard because the TV for his seat was on the fritz? How many TV's have to break before an otherwise airworthy aircraft is grounded? And will the TV's not cost anything to fix when they do (and they will) break?

Who's to say what the costs might be without a history based study?...I would imagine an inforamtion excahnge with jetblue wold be in order for that.

However...no amount of broken seat back TV's would ground an Acft....unless a blanket issue of faulty wiring was attributed to a potential fire hazard such as that of the in-flight system on the Swiss Air MD-11 was rumored to have had.

These items are covered under MEL's (Minimum Equipment Lists) and would be defered as such. A TV on-board would be a PCI (Passenger Convienience Item) ...this is an item that has no bearing on safety of flight concerns and would not prevent scheduled revenued flight.

 

[KCFlyer]

These items are covered under MEL's (Minimum Equipment Lists) and would be defered as such. A TV on-board would be a PCI (Passenger Convienience Item) ...this is an item that has no bearing on safety of flight concerns and would not prevent scheduled revenued flight.

Ahhh...but that brings up my other point - you "promise" inflight TV, but half the TV's don't work. Those folks write to the company, who, not wanting to alienate their valued "priceline" customers, will most likely issue a hundred dollar travel voucher in the name of "customer service". A hundred bucks out of your pocket to a person who paid a fare that didn't cover the costs of occupying the seat in the first place...at what point would the "customer service" feebies outweight the costs of cancelling the flight? Farfetched, I know, but some folks want compensation because the water in the lav wasn't blue enough. Why ask for trouble??

 

[AOG-N-IT]

Ahhh...but that brings up my other point - you "promise" inflight TV, but half the TV's don't work. Those folks write to the company, who, not wanting to alienate their valued "priceline" customers, will most likely issue a hundred dollar travel voucher in the name of "customer service". A hundred bucks out of your pocket to a person who paid a fare that didn't cover the costs of occupying the seat in the first place...at what point would the "customer service" feebies outweight the costs of cancelling the flight? Farfetched, I know, but some folks want compensation because the water in the lav wasn't blue enough. Why ask for trouble??

...and some people would complain if the were hung with a new rope too !!!

Actually thier is no ideal answer here....but we defiantely need to do something to set ourselves apart from the LCC's...or even become more like them from a passenger service perspective.

How many broken TV's would make cancelling a flight a necessary issue? Who knows exactly? If at all? Again...JetBlue would be the authority in this case...not U in a hypothetical situation.

We have our share of failures and deferals on the current powerpoints installed for laptops and the alike...but I don't know of any flights being cancelled or custmers raising holy sand over it....I'm equally sure there are a few that have and should complain.

Hey...it man made and mechanical....and being such it's prone to breakage from time to time. No different than how many TV's or appliances you may have had to replace in your adult life...I know I've had a few to give up the ghost ...and you just deal with it.

 

[CLT-Douglas]

IFE could pay for itself and then some if it was done correctly.

First US Airways starts off with what they have. Flip down monitors on the Airbus Aircraft and isle monitors on select Boeing aircraft. Offer headsets for a one time purchase both onboard and online at usairways.com when purchasing a ticket. Present a show or news and have the cost paid for by the advertisers I am willing to bet US Airways could get just about any large company to pony up the cash if their latest commercial, could be shown to a captive audience. US Airways could even do a small clip at the beginning such as... US Airways proudly presents in flight entertainment, provided by, Nike.

US Airways could make much more if they invested in IFE at every seat. One channel for Pay per view movies. A second channel for free shows and News provided by a host sponsor. Finally, a third and most powerful channel. Those that are too cheap to pony up cash head sets, a silent slide show of ads bought by other companies. Much like what you see in the movie theater before the lights go down. This could be a great tool for free advertising for US Airways itself. With out being able to turn it off, you are truly getting a captive audience the entire flight.

I am a graphic designer, so I know the cost in advertising. Companies spend millions to get their name noticed. Billboards and magazine ads cost thousands to produce. With out printing costs, video billboards at a huge plus.

 

[KCFlyer]

Those that are too cheap to pony up cash head sets, a silent slide show of ads bought by other companies. Much like what you see in the movie theater before the lights go down. This could be a great tool for free advertising for US Airways itself. With out being able to turn it off, you are truly getting a captive audience the entire flight.

With all due respect, isn't this just slightly above the ads along the inside of city busses? Wasn't it Vanguard (remember them) who planned on selling "advertising" to be posted on the overhead bin doors? IMHO, subjecting captive passengers to 4 hours of silent ads doesn't qualify as "entertainment" and may well serve to send them over to a carrier with no entertainment at all.