USAir to Eliminate movies on domestic flights, will AA follow?

 
Old Jul 10, 2008, 6:08 pm
  #16  
 
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Pretty soon these will be X went bankrupt will (or when) will AA follow threads. Expect to see this by fall or Winter with the large carriers start filing. Who knows, AA could be the first here.
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Old Jul 10, 2008, 6:18 pm
  #17  
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How do airlines pay for the inflight entertainment?

Years ago, AA (and the other airlines) insisted that watching a movie cost $5 even if you used your own headphones, calling it an "exhibition fee" rather than headphone rental.

Then, AA reversed course and said that IFE was included in the ticket price, and sold cheap earbuds for $2 if you forgot to bring your own.

Does anyone know (and are you able to share) whether the Eye on American commercials pay for the movies? Or does AA have to fork over real cash to the studios for the right to show old movies?
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Old Jul 10, 2008, 6:47 pm
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Originally Posted by FWAAA
How do airlines pay for the inflight entertainment?

Years ago, AA (and the other airlines) insisted that watching a movie cost $5 even if you used your own headphones, calling it an "exhibition fee" rather than headphone rental.

Then, AA reversed course and said that IFE was included in the ticket price, and sold cheap earbuds for $2 if you forgot to bring your own.

Does anyone know (and are you able to share) whether the Eye on American commercials pay for the movies? Or does AA have to fork over real cash to the studios for the right to show old movies?
I don't know the answer to the question, but one would hope that it's cost nuteral from a programing perspective at least. It's half advertising for CBS. I find Eye pretty useless.

I don't belive the projected cost savings for US was based on programing cost. The reports I've seen indicate the 10 million in savings will come from reduced weight by removing the AV equipment from the fleet.
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Old Jul 10, 2008, 8:18 pm
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According to a "lil Birdie" over at USAirways, there is more to this than meets the "CBS EYE ON AMERICAN." HAHA, I crack myself up! Seriously though, apparently US had a contract with Rockwell Collins (I think that is the company, don't quote me on that) to maintain the IFE systems and that went sour. So basically they sent manuals to all of the maintenance stations which was supposedly supposed to show maintenance how to service/fix the systems and nobody has a clue. According to the "birdie" a ton of the IFE systems on the US fleet (about half in the birdie's estimation) are inop at the moment. I'm guessing they don't want to invest the money on the upkeep of the systems and the "weight savings" is just another "fuel savings" ploy to get us to buy-in to their nonsense.
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Old Jul 10, 2008, 8:27 pm
  #20  
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Originally Posted by stratofortress
Wouldn't they have to already have something (e.g. inflight entertainment) in order to eliminate it? I can't remember the last time I flew a mid-con on AA and saw a movie... YMMV.
I don't recall, in my 25 years of flying AA, there ever being anything worth watching in a domestic AA flight, so I don't know what the difference will be. As a matter of fact, 95% of my flights on AA don't even have anything to show, so it doesn't change a thing for me.
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Old Jul 10, 2008, 8:28 pm
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Originally Posted by aaupgrade
Posted wired (PeaBerry2008/1.0 cup /Caffeine 5.2.1/Kona-12.0 VendorID/503)

Pretty soon we shouldn't have to listen to many more with regard to US, other than...

USAir to eliminate ALL flights, will AA follow?
Yep, Parker seems to want to make US into a Southwest w/intl flights Guess what? it wont work when you pay 3x $ for fuel.
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Old Jul 10, 2008, 8:35 pm
  #22  
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Originally Posted by grahampros
I don't belive the projected cost savings for US was based on programing cost. The reports I've seen indicate the 10 million in savings will come from reduced weight by removing the AV equipment from the fleet.
Who cares why US removed their system? This is the American Airlines forum, not the US forum. Why are we discussing USAir here?

Yes, the published reports might lead to that conclusion. For example:

Airline spokeswoman Valerie Wunder said the current in-flight entertainment systems are being pulled from roughly 196 of its planes. "These systems weigh about 500 pounds, and whether a movie is showing or not, the plane has to bear that weight," Wunder said.

And, she said with changing customer behavior, fewer people are shelling out the $5 to rent the headsets to listen to the movies. "A lot of people bring their own personal devices and their own headsets on airplanes," she said.
http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacif...html?ana=yfcpc

Apparently, US was unable to convince 2 million people to pay $5 to watch the movie - since that would have covered the fuel.

So back to my question - how much might AA have to pay to cover the IFE? I doubt the movies are free.
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Old Jul 10, 2008, 9:18 pm
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Originally Posted by SafeFlyer
US Airways says it will start removing in-flight entertainment systems on domestic flights in November to save about $10 million annually in fuel and other costs. (Link to article below.)

I can’t see AA doing this on the East to West Coast flights, but can you see them eliminating movies on all other domestic flights?


http://www.usatoday.com/travel/fligh...s_N.htm?csp=34
I don't think anyone in this forum cares what USeless air is doing.

AA has eliminated all IFE on their MD80's.
oops, they never put it in.

As AA uses the same 757, 767, 738 on trans con and non trans con, not sure AA is going to spend the $ to remove. A300 will go away soon, so no reason to fo anything with them, except park then in the desert.
The real ? is, how long will US exist?

The next thing u will see is US eliminating paint as it saves weight for fuel.

Last edited by zman; Jul 10, 2008 at 9:30 pm
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Old Jul 10, 2008, 9:29 pm
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Personally, I'd switch to a system that's a hybrid of their current system, and that employed by VX: Make people pay for IFE, but, rather than install expensive (and heavy) IFE systems in each seat, have the personal systems available in transcon/int'l first/biz available at the gate, for a $20 rental charge. Only those who want them will bother, and they'll more than make up for the cost of the fuel to carry them. Of course, they'll still be free in premium cabins, and come with those sweet headphones .
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Old Jul 10, 2008, 11:36 pm
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Originally Posted by JumboD
Personally, I'd switch to a system that's a hybrid of their current system, and that employed by VX: Make people pay for IFE, but, rather than install expensive (and heavy) IFE systems in each seat, have the personal systems available in transcon/int'l first/biz available at the gate, for a $20 rental charge. Only those who want them will bother, and they'll more than make up for the cost of the fuel to carry them. Of course, they'll still be free in premium cabins, and come with those sweet headphones .
Of course, you did send your idea in to the corporate department for approval on this cost cutting measure?
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Old Jul 11, 2008, 9:30 am
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Originally Posted by skylady
Of course, you did send your idea in to the corporate department for approval on this cost cutting measure?
Sorry, I couldn't quite tell if this was sarcastic, or there was really a way to do this. If so, I'd gladly send it in. Thanks.
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Old Jul 11, 2008, 10:37 am
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Couldn't care less about movies on domestic flights. They make the time pass too quickly. I provide my own entertainment, or get caught up on my sleep.
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Old Jul 11, 2008, 10:44 am
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Originally Posted by formeraa
Since the vast majority of AA's fleet does not have IFE, they set the standard in not having movies on domestic flights!
No, that would be NW.
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Old Jul 11, 2008, 11:05 am
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Originally Posted by DillMan
Anyone else enjoying this "will AA follow???" threads? I'm waiting for us to descend to "US Airways delays a flight to AUS. OMG AA TO FOLLOW?!?!?!?!?!"
You beat me to it. My thoughts exactly!
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Old Jul 11, 2008, 11:13 am
  #30  
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Originally Posted by DillMan

Anyone else enjoying this "will AA follow???" threads? I'm waiting for us to descend to "US Airways delays a flight to AUS. OMG AA TO FOLLOW?!?!?!?!?!"
Well, there are two sides to this. On the one hand, I agree that the discussion has no real meat because we simply have no idea whether they will follow, and only speculate, based on nothing.

On the other hand, treating what one airline does as orthogonal to the actions of other airlines is very simplistic. We all know that this is a "follow the leader" game in many ways. Fare wars, baggage charges, fuel charges,...

So, to equate this change with a simple flight delay is a flawed analogy. The fact that an airline did this has a reasonable probability of causing other airlines to re-evaluate IFE, expecially if the competitor can now charge $5 for the tickets.

Cheers.
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