On the last 4 flights I have been on (all Airbus 319s or 321s), one or more of the following has always happened:

- The LCD monitors go up and down at least twice for no apparent reason
- The FA have no idea how to start the safety announcement and/or it comes on with no sound, barely audiable then increases to a sound level that sounds like the voice of God is doing the safety announcement :)
- The video needs some serious "vertical hold" or "tracking" adjustment because the picture starts to bounce around and become unwatchable

I found it ironic tonight that during the part where they say "there are 4 clearly marked exit doors" the map of the plane on the video was completely unviewable. I guess the doors are clearly marked, but it's up to you to find them :)

Is the system getting old or does it need a serious cleaning?

On the bright side (and more importantly), all the flights I have been on recently have been on very clean planes and we've recieved great service from check-in to stepping off the plane. Looks like things are looking up, but if they could only fix the video system!

I've been hanging out on a lot of 319s and 321s lately in my recent laps to Florida, and I've seen a lot of safety video problems. Usually things get better if they're showing IFE on the system once at altitude.

At least some of the problems I've seen have been FA unfamiliarity with the system, so I'm not sure if this is just a bunch of people being trained on it for the first time, or if there are a crop of FAs new to the Airbus fleet. Maybe because of all the 737-300 returns?

Agreed on the cleanliness. It's one of the biggest, and most positive, post-merger improvements I've seen to date. Fortunately, it's also one of the first things they needed to tackle.

Some of the problems may be a result of switching from using an automated program based on flight time and direction to manual use.

For example, on a LAX-PHL flight, all the F/A had to do was press the touch screen button indicating a Eastbound flight with a duration of 5 hours. All of the prgramming was pre-set and would run accordingly once "start program" was pushed. Now they supposidly have to load separate tapes for the demo, movie, short sbjects and trivia.

It always amazes me...

With all the technology on-board pretty much every airplane today (GPS, weather radar, ACARS, etc)...they still have not mastered the simple showing of a movie or 3 minute video.

I was on a 321 this fall and they showed the 319 safety video! I was half-watching over my paper and suddenly thought, "hey, there's no 2L" on that video. The flight was already running quite late and so I kept my mouth shut.

After the meal service, I mentioned it to the FA, who replied, "I'm sure glad you didn't tell me that on the ground!" I'm assuming we're talking FAA regulation and we'd've gone back to the gate for the right tape. She did indicate that she'd tell the captain, who'd probably radio ahead to have the proper tape waiting for the aircraft.

More back on topic: I find AV issues more on the Boeings--count your blessings if you get a monitor that consistently stays in color and doesn't flash back and forth to black and white.

The Airbusses have had A/V operation issues since they were introduced. Especially the Up/Down behavior that seems to happen every time the aircraft switches from ground electrical power to APU, from APU to main engine, or during main engine start. There also seems to be a group of F/As that know how to operate the system and a group that doesn’t do so well. I’ve been on flights where all the F/As were the latter and it was pretty ugly – ended up doing a manual safety demo and never got the movie working right. Plus I’ve seen incidents of Pax intervening to help out with the equipment. As to the screens on the Boeings, they’re simply old and tired. The picture on any CRT based screen is going to suffer after being used for 8+ hours a day for 15+ years.

Try finding an F/A who knows how to operate the IFE system on the 767! In my past experiences, especially when the 767 was on some domestic routes (like PHL-LAX), there wasn't usually an F/A who knew how to properly load the tapes for the F passengers (the entertainment guide clearly stated that a variety of choices would be offered). Why haven't these airlines moved to DVD players instead of archaic tape decks? One DVD could hold every safety announcement for every plane in the fleet, allowing the FA to pick the right one to play.

Try finding an F/A who knows how to operate the IFE system on the 767! In my past experiences, especially when the 767 was on some domestic routes (like PHL-LAX), there wasn't usually an F/A who knew how to properly load the tapes for the F passengers (the entertainment guide clearly stated that a variety of choices would be offered). Why haven't these airlines moved to DVD players instead of archaic tape decks? One DVD could hold every safety announcement for every plane in the fleet, allowing the FA to pick the right one to play.
There is talk of switching to a hard drive based system to stream line combined fleets differeing equipment.

With the introduction of the new boarding video and the cranium trivia, they have completely changed the video system and the contents of the tapes. The departure video and the level off used to be on one tape and you could program it to play at the appropriate times. Now the level off is a different tape because it has the cranium trivia on it, and they have changed the system from being able to operate everything on the "automatic" mode to "manual". This means that you must program every single tape into the system and manually pick where it's going to show, what the volume should be, etc. It's literally a pain in the neck, and the system doesn't always operate as it should. It might look like the f/a's don't know what they're doing, but they are really trying to figure out the quirks of that individual airplane. I've seen airplanes that you have to put the tape into Player #2 but it will show on Player #1, airplanes that you must reverse the entire sequence, etc. I've had airplanes that none of us could figure out, and in the end we did the old standby regular announcement and demo. We have no new f/a's, and the airbus is at every crew base so it's not an issue of having f/a's that don't know what they're doing. We're just trying to work with the "new" system as best as we can. As far as the 767 video system goes, I for one hope they change it to another system soon. It's one of the main reasons I avoid that airplane, I'm scared to death I'll get stuck in that position and I will be the first to admit that it baffles me. I had training on the system almost 5 years ago, and if you don't do it every week it's something you can easily forget how to operate. It's completely different than the A330, the baby bus, and the baby boeings. On the other hand, the video position on the A330 is my absolute favorite, but I'm not alone in my feeling and it's not an easy position to get. Most times it goes senior to me in the briefing.
Just have a little patience with your f/a's, we DO know what we're doing, it's just a matter of figuring out the mystery of the day. :)

I think the up-down operation when the aircraft power cycles is just a "normal" thing for the Airbus IFE system. All the America West aircraft have had the same behavior even pre-merger.

Hi-8 tapes are passé anyway, I expect a hard drive-based system makes a lot more sense for the future. If there's an update, just copy it off a CompactFlash card.

.... As far as the 767 video system goes, I for one hope they change it to another system soon. It's one of the main reasons I avoid that airplane, I'm scared to death I'll get stuck in that position and I will be the first to admit that it baffles me......

You're not alone :) . About two weeks ago, a 767 was substituted for a 757 on the MC0 - CLT run. The huge increase in F seats meant lots of upgrades for DM Preferred flyers and I gather most were happy. The cabin crew did not seem as happy with the substitution. There was a lot of running round and talking before the safety video came out right. One of the FAs whispered to me, "We can't figure out this aircraft..." Oh well, they found out soon enough and we were on our way.

You wanna see a real comedy show. The PHL-CLT flight on a 767. They can't get the video to run, they run their tales doing cabin service, and are picking up the last cups as the rear mains touch the runway in CLT!

It is not just the Av system that is aging but the whole fleet (and the FA's some would asy :p ). Seats that dont work, toilets closed, overhead lights I could go on and on. Unlike some of you I am a relatively new US flyer having only used them since 2000.

The majority of my travel with US is TA rather than domestic and I have seen a huge deteroration in standards. Perhaps this is unsuprising for an airline that went through Chapter 11.

It used to be a pleasure to fly US now I find it a chore. The days where I knew the crews because they were regular on a particular route (to the extent I would socialise with some of them on a stopover) and greeted you with a cheery smile and a genuine enthusiasm for their job appear to be long gone. I assume they are no longer with the company.

But moan as I do the simple fact is this. I like the majority of the people who fly US do so on my own cash rather than a company expense account. ( I do around 16 TA round trips a year so that adds up). A constant theme on FT is people complaining about what really are in all reality minor irritants rather than major issues. The other point that strikes me is that most of the FT community appear to be flying on the company dime.

US like every other airline knows that he who controls the purse strings is the person you listen to not the passenger.

My question is that if these issues are of such great importance to you as frequent flyers then why do you not simply vote with your feet and fly a different airline? I certainly do if I can find a more competative deal. If you are unable to do this because of corporate travel policy then when are you not complaining to the corporate travel department?

The only thing any airline understands is bums moving of their metal onto someone elses.

The truth I suspect is that most people are rather like me in that they say so long as I can get from A to B at a good price in safety and with reasonable comfort I am prepared to put up with whatever an airline throws at me. That being the case, you know what guys? Things are not going to change. Just my thoughts on reality.

Steps back to await flames and protestations of but I deserve to be listened to because I am an elite :rolleyes:

Because despite all the kvetching, there are still some good reasons to fly USAir:

1. Fares that I can get past the corporate travel agent. (I work up my own flight itineraries and send them in for approval and booking.)
2. Fairly plentiful comp First Class upgrades, even for mid-low-tier elites. On mainline jets, I've sat in the back exactly twice since I gained Silver status.
3. Extremely awesome employees. I cannot stress this enough. I have yet to have a bad experience with anyone who works for US Airways, either East or West. received superlative service even in difficult situations.
4. Convenient hubs (yeah, :rolleyes: PHL notwithstanding), especially PHX and CLT. ESPECIALLY CLT.
5. Back on the First Class track, acceptable FC service. OK, is it great? No. In fact, I'd even support a moderate per-segment upgrade charge if it bought us some upgrades to our upgrades. But as-is, it's not horrible. And it'll be getting better if Dougie's promises come true.
6. No worries about awful Mad Dogs and DFWmen - I was previously Gold on AA.
7. Traveling ex-SFO and OAK, I don't have to stand in the 50-person preboarding lines that are common on UA flights around here. Upgrades? Fugetaboutit, you'll be lucky to get E+ if you're 1P on some of these routes.
8. The employees. Did I mention them already? Well, they deserve another bit of kudos. I doubt USAir would have survived nearly as long as it has if it had a lesser group of employees. The dedication and sacrifice of so many devoted people blows me away.
9. Um... I'm a sucker for the blatant appeal to emotion represented by the Heritage logo and the PSA retrojet?
10. It begins with you. :p

Many of the really awful proposed changes were stopped. I personally laid down the law at the snack basket rumors. I sent a letter to Tempe that said, you can have my Gold card back if you pull the snack basket. They stepped back. Same with the companion changes, the power-ports, etc.

My sense is that Tempe is well-meaning but got misguided. They seem to be making more right moves than wrong ones right now, and growing pains happen. Is this airline ever going to make everyone happy? Nah, and that's why there's more than one airline out there. Choice is good.

My sense is that Tempe is well-meaning but got misguided. They seem to be making more right moves than wrong ones right now, and growing pains happen. Is this airline ever going to make everyone happy? Nah, and that's why there's more than one airline out there. Choice is good.

Thoughtful, reasonable, and intelligent summary of the current state of affairs. Bravo!