Today’s in-flight entertainment puts passengers in control
Here’s a trivia question that will challenge even the most ardent devotee of movie esoterica: Identify the first theatrical film shown on a regularly scheduled commercial airline flight. (Hint: It was in 1961 aboard a TWA Boeing 707.)
For the answer to this -- and other questions about the ever-changing world of in-flight entertainment -- you’ll have to read to the end of this story.
The options for amusing oneself on some airlines rival those of the best-stocked home entertainment centers. Some in-flight entertainment, or IFE, systems offer as many as 400 options (including on-demand movies, television, video games and music), live satellite television with 24 channels and pay-per-view movies, and a hand-held device, similar to a portable DVD player, that’s pre-loaded with dozens of entertainment choices.
In the last dozen years, airlines have nearly quadrupled the amount they spend annually on products and services for IFE -- from $400 million in 1992 to an estimated $1.5 billion in 2003, said the World Airline Entertainment Assn.
Despite this investment, most passengers rank IFE as low as sixth on the list of reasons to choose an airline -- well behind price and schedule, the top two considerations, said Rob Brookler, a spokesman for the association.
Such a system costs millions for each aircraft, Brookler said, so don’t expect financially struggling airlines to upgrade their systems any time soon. Still, the competitiveness of the airline industry makes it a near-necessity.
“Everything else being equal, high-end entertainment can be a deciding factor,” Brookler said, especially when competing for “premium passengers” in first and business classes. Greater IFE choices also tend to generate greater customer loyalty.
I experienced firsthand the high end of IFE on a Singapore Airlines flight in May from Los Angeles to Singapore. The audio-video on-demand system provided me with 300 entertainment options (expanded to 400 last month), including 60 feature movies, 75 TV shows, 100 music CDs and 30 Nintendo games. My choices included the entire “Matrix” and “Lord of the Rings” trilogies, episodes of “Friends” and “Frasier” and several movies not yet out on video. I whiled away the 17-hour flight watching such films as “The Last Samurai” and “House of Sand and Fog” and playing chess on the 9-inch LCD screen in the seat back.
Even more compelling than the choice of entertainment was the sense that I was master of my entertainment universe. “It gives the passenger the fullest control of their ... experience,” Brookler said. “The programming is stored digitally on a server so it is of the highest quality.”
Because it is digital (that is, you’re not limited by having one tape for an entire cabin) you can start a show at any time and pause, rewind or fast-forward. The intuitive controls on my Singapore Airlines flight were on a small hand-held device that popped out of the armrest.
Air Canada, Kuwait and South African airways also are among those that have the system on board select aircraft. Other long-distance carriers, especially in Asia, are looking to upgrade their systems, Brookler said.
But initial cost of such a system is just one consideration for airlines looking to expand IFE options. “Technology changes so rapidly you want to be careful about investing in technology that may obsolete itself,” said Dave Palmer, managing director of marketing for Alaska Airlines. “Plus, it makes no sense to carry an embedded system in a two-hour market.”
In October, Alaska Airlines rolled out the digEplayer, a lower-cost option for airlines that want high-end audio-video on demand. This hand-held digital device, which has a 7.5-inch LCD screen, can be distributed to passengers as they board the aircraft. It can be programmed with up to 30 full-length feature films, television programs, music videos and destination information as well as 10 hours of music programming. Like the system I used on the Singapore Airlines flight, it allows the passengers to control the entertainment.
“We’re finding that there are different times of day that there is more usage, and we’re able to put more on those flights where there is more demand,” Palmer said.
The units are provided free in first class and can be rented for $10 in coach. You can reserve them in advance at www.alaskaair.com. Current programming includes nine movies, three TV shows and 10 hours of music. They have been so well received that Alaska has ordered 600 more. They were initially available only on transcontinental flights and between Anchorage and Chicago, but they will soon be available on all flights of three or more hours. Other airlines testing or deploying the hand-held systems include United’s Ted service and Hawaiian Airlines.
Many of the growing ranks of low-fare carriers have embraced live satellite digital television as the IFE of choice. It’s available on JetBlue, Frontier (for a $5 fee) and Song, and the new Independence Air will have it on its new Airbus A319 aircraft when it starts service in November from the West Coast. Besides offering more than 20 live television channels such as NBC, the Weather and the Travel channels, some airlines are expanding their offerings to include XM satellite radio and pay-per-view movies. For the technologically curious, JetBlue has an online video that shows how it installs the DirectTV system onto its aircraft (www.jetblue.com, then “learn more” then “DirecTV”).
Even with all the IFE options available today, you probably won’t find a listing for the first movie shown on that TWA flight. It was the United Artists’ release of “By Love Possessed,” starring Lana Turner and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. The plot? “Neurotic woman engages in an affair with the law partner of her impotent husband,” according to the Internet Movie Database. With that kind of story and today’s entertainment options, you’d think one airline could fit it in the lineup.
Jane Engle is on vacation. The Times welcomes questions and comments on Travel Insider; send them to 202 W. 1st St., L.A., CA 90012, or e-mail travel@ latimes.com. James Gilden can be reached through
www.theinternettraveler.com.
