Originally Posted by
Spounce
Marketing executives at a number of airlines have operated under the impression that travellers would pay extra for a better experience. Most of them managed their airlines directly into the scrap heap. How many examples would you like?
The flip side of that is that customers would happily accept a lesser experience if it saved them money.
In which case it is foolish for Air Canada to waste money on IFE systems which are:
- expensive to acquire
- expensive to install
- expensive to program
- add significant weight to to every mile travelled
- require persistent overhead wrt program guides online and in enRoute
By eliminating IFE, they could save a fortune, pass some of those savings into lower fares, and take customers from other airlines.
Alternatively, if the planes are brim full and forecast to continue to be, then offering IFE isn't going to bring in any more customers -- 'cause there's no room for them. So why waste money on IFE?
After all, we've already established that the vast majority of passengers don't care about the in flight experience.