New Entertainment Option On Aa

Sep 8, 2004
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Does anyone have any specifics on the press release below? What flights will this operate on? Is it only offered on one type of a/c? I'm flying ORD-LAX in a couple of weeks, and would like to try out the device.



Press Release Source: American Airlines


Entertainment in the Palm of Your Hand; American Airlines Passengers to Test New On-Demand Personal Entertainment Devices
Monday November 15, 3:30 pm ET


FORT WORTH, Texas, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Airlines today premiered a wide variety of on-demand entertainment content, including movies, TV shows, games and electronic newspapers and books, packaged in a new, hand-held Personal Entertainment Device. This inflight entertainment concept will be tested on select flights in several markets during the next three months as part of American's ongoing effort to provide customers what they value.
"We are very excited to share this new solution with our passengers as they evaluate the latest in inflight entertainment," said Mary McKee, Managing Director - Inflight Products for American Airlines. "We believe our customers will value the ability to choose from a wide selection of entertainment options and will find that their flight is too short to enjoy all that these devices offer. The content is designed to have broad appeal -- from the seasoned road warrior to families flying with their children."

The easy-to-use technology allows American to offer a large selection of entertainment options including:

Early-window movies (after-theater release, but before DVD or video release)
Music videos -- American's award-winning inflight audio programming - 12 channels
offering a variety of musical genres and business programs

TV comedy and drama programming, such as Cheers, Law & Order, and Without a Trace
Animated children's programs -- Digital newspapers -- Audio book excerpts -- Card games, such as Solitaire and Black Jack
The lightweight, portable devices have an 8.9" wide Super Video Graphic Array (SVGA) Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen, support continuous play with a battery life of approximately five hours and offer two output headphone jacks.

During take-off and landing, the devices will be housed in a special cart that doubles as a content loading and charging docking station while on the ground. Digital newspapers will be updated daily and other content, including movies and TV programs, will be updated on a regular basis. The secure, digitally encrypted content will be stored on the hard drive of each device.

During the test, the devices will be distributed at no charge to passengers in the First Class cabin. Passengers in the Main cabin can rent the devices for a fee of $10 to $12 (depending on the market) by simply swiping their credit card on the portable unit. All of the "on demand" entertainment options will be available for that one flat fee. There will be no cash transactions for the devices.

The units will be available in selected Chicago/Los Angeles, DFW/Seattle, Fort Lauderdale/Los Angeles and Chicago/Seattle routes. The test will run through early February 2005.

American Airlines is the world's largest carrier. American, American Eagle and the AmericanConnection® regional carriers serve more than 250 cities in over 40 countries with more than 3,800 daily flights. The combined network fleet numbers more than 1,000 aircraft. American's award- winning Web site, AA.com, provides users with easy access to check and book fares, plus personalized news, information and travel offers. American Airlines is a founding member of the oneworld Alliance, which brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business, enabling them to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own. Together, its members serve more than 575 destinations in 135 countries and territories. American Airlines, Inc. and American Eagle are subsidiaries of AMR Corporation (NYSE: AMR - News).

AmericanAirlines, American Eagle, AmericanConnection, AA.com, AAdvantage and Net SAAvers & Special Offers are marks of American Airlines, Inc.
 
It's being tested mostly on MD-80 flights, if I recall correctly. Which makes sense, since that's the only fleet type without some form of IFE, and AA still flies about 350 of them.
 
It is being tested on S80's and 757's. The ORD-LAX flights are 1555 and 1435. The LAX-ORD flights are 1588 and 1890. Both of these flights are S80's. Hope that helps.
 
IORFA said:
It is being tested on S80's and 757's. The ORD-LAX flights are 1555 and 1435. The LAX-ORD flights are 1588 and 1890. Both of these flights are S80's. Hope that helps.
[post="201124"][/post]​

Good deal! Thanks so much :D
 
Are these IFE's the same as what AA gives their Business Class passengers on the 767's?
 
As I understand it, no they are not the same thing. The IFE's given out on the 767s are just DVD players that take a special size DVD (so the passengers will not be tempted to take the device or the discs as souvenirs :lol: ).
 
Looks like a nice player. There will definitly be a market for these. I would have to be a a Loooooong flight before I was interested. Newspaper or book for me thank you! B6 does not charge for TV but is considering charging for Movies in the future.