FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Expanded wifi and future domestic IFE?
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Old Sep 6, 2011, 3:04 pm
  #13  
dcpatti
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Washington, DC
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Posts: 4,549
I'd love it if they surprised us with new IFE, and I use the term "IFE" to include wi-fi because it is a very easy way to tap into what the customer is already carrying, as opposed to hardwired traditional IFE. But I really would be surprised if it happens. It all comes down to the bottom line and it took US long enough to invest in upgraded meals in F, which in the end was actually a cost-neutral solution. New meals on meal flights in "exchange" for pared back snack baskets on the shortest flights. If it took US so long to implement a cost-neutral change, I just don't see them rushing out to spend money on that which has not yet proven to be a money maker. There are some who base their flight purchases on amenities such as IFE but US' planes are still flying at or close to capacity with customers who either don't care, or will put up with it to save a dollar. From the management perspective, if the planes are full, I think they're happy to give just the barest of amenities at the cheapest cost. In a few years when all the other legacies are getting rave reviews and raking in big dollars off of their streaming IFE on demand, then I think US will consider it. But for now, I think their focus is on how to get more from customers without spending more (choice seats) and not on how to improve the flying experience. Would be nice to be proven wrong though.
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