Originally Posted by
bse118
I've flown more CO 737s than I'd care to. Last one was SFO-DCA in March. During which I turned off my screen after the safety video - and it remained off for the duration of the transcon. Certainly wasn't off/on over and over again.
In reality the on/off cycling you mention happens only when the FA's have to reset the DirectTV system, which is usually ONCE per flight.
I don't spend much time watching other peoples' screens, but to each his own.
The background bother from other people's seatback screens is far less intrusive, IMO, than the annoyance from drop down screens that no-one can turn off and that rarely play anything worth watching. Won't miss them.
I very much disagree with you there. A dropdown screen every 4 rows or so that's actually playing a movie or Anthony Bourdain or Big Bang Theory or whatever is far, far less intrusive than 150 screens in the seatbacks playing a very short loop of ads for six hours straight. I can dim my screen, I may be able to ask the person next to me to dim theirs if they're not watching it, but I can't do it to the passengers in the other 22 seats that are generally in my visual range.
And this whole crap about bring your own device. Here's some news for you - not everyone owns a tablet. Sure, most people at least have a smart phone, but watching a movie for $6.99 (cost of on-board wi-fi) on a three-inch screen isn't really entertaining. If you weigh over 120 pounds or are over 5'8", I seriously doubt if you'll be able to comfortably have a laptop on the seatback tray with the new seats.
I understand how they'll cram in the extra row in E+ - they'll Tedify the non-Ted A320s and the 319s by taking out the F closet and half the galley. You'll board and there will just be the half-galley in front, then the divider, then F starts. So, F is reduced in the new scenario by eliminating the closet so the FAs put their stuff in the overheads. Plus, no space to stash a bag if you're late arriving in F and the overheads are taken. With a closet, the FA can pile your stuff in there on top of their bags. Now, they won't.
But, to get that extra row into E- means that the seat pitch is going to have to drop about 2 inches, down to 30" or so. The fact that the seats are thinner and they fiddle with the arraingment of the seatbacks so that the magazine pouch is higher doesn't change the fact that you are physically closer to the people in front and behind you. Thus, the jammed-in feeling.
I guess to sum up my feelings - Conited is trying to fix something that isn't broken in the name of increasing dollars. That's ok, but as the old saying goes, don't piss down my neck and tell me it's raining. A lot pmUA customers go out of their way now to get an Airbus because we don't like the 737s for a lot of reasons. Now, that option is disappearing. I doubt if too many pmCO customers seek out Airbuses, since they seem happy with the 737s and AVOD.
I like that nomenclature. Conited is becoming a grumpy, expensive version of a discount carrier that happens to fly internationally.