Things in the Sky

This week, we’ve seen some interesting/exciting news on the IFE front that involves a couple of domestic carriers…let’s take a look.

First, Virgin America is planning to introduce a new IFE system to its customers starting late next year. The San Fransisco-based airline has selected BoardConnect from Lufthansa Systems, which “replaces complex legacy in-flight entertainment solutions via an onboard WiFi network,” Virgin said. The system features “a larger, high-definition touch-screen seatback monitor with full WiFi connectivity…along with the ability for flyers to use their own personal electronic devices to connect to the system pre-flight, in-flight and post-flight.”

Virgin already has a great IFE system across its fleet that is (in my opinion) unmatched in the domestic market. So, why upgrade? If I had to guess, I’d say that Virgin wants to stay as far ahead of the competition as possible, especially as carriers like American and United are making some improvements when it comes to IFE. Plus, Virgin is always advertising its superior guest experience, and a new IFE system only bolsters that.

But  it appears there are some cost benefits here as well. As Virgin notes in its release:

Most current IFE solutions are complex and hard-wired, making them expensive to purchase and install, difficult to maintain and often inflexible in use. Instead of connecting every single seat to the content server through several miles of cables, BoardConnect requires just a few access points.

Lufthansa Systems also outlines some of the cost savings of the system on its website, including a smaller investment up front and a 50-70% savings in maintenance cost compared to legacy systems. Lufthansa Systems also outlines that “the simple fact that less wiring is needed and more lightweight components are used results in a significant overall weight reduction, which translates into real fuel economy.”

“By skipping the wires, we save about 1,000 pounds per aircraft on Virgin America’s Airbus A320s which in turn saves a tremendous amount of fuel,” said Dr. Jörg Liebe, CIO Lufthansa Systems.

Anyway…I’m looking forward to giving this new system a whirl one day. A few months ago, Lufthansa Systems posted a video on YouTube about the new system that should give you an idea of what we could see in the future:

The next interesting bit of news comes from Row 44, which on Monday announced a new service for live Internet Protocol television (IPTV) that passengers could view on their own devices starting on January 2. That’s great, but the most interesting part of the news release was buried at the end:

Row 44 customer Southwest Airlines added, “Row 44 is a great partner for Southwest, and we are excited about the live television product inclusion in the Row 44 platform,” said Dave Ridley, Southwest’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Southwest looks forward to offering this content onboard our WiFi enabled aircraft later this year.”

Granted, Southwest already has WiFi on some aircraft…but this is an exciting leap into the world of IFE for Southwest! The only downside here is that power outlets cannot be found on Southwest flights. Granted, the airline isn’t as focused on transcon flights as much as Virign, for example, but my laptop wouldn’t last very long streaming video over WiFi.

Either way…the airline that has historically been known for frills is getting less…er…frilly.