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How long til / will reverse no seatback IFE decision?

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How long til / will reverse no seatback IFE decision?

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Old Oct 14, 2018, 1:02 am
  #61  
 
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Originally Posted by TXguy


Why does everyone have to have your preference? Why not just not use a service you don’t care about? Why would you want to take away options for other customers?
One reason is that “option” - at least on AA - takes away a lot of underseat storage (or foot) space. Even if I don’t use the IFE I have to put up with that.
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Old Oct 14, 2018, 7:08 am
  #62  
 
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Originally Posted by hbtr

One reason is that “option” - at least on AA - takes away a lot of underseat storage (or foot) space. Even if I don’t use the IFE I have to put up with that.
DL has found the perfect solution where content will be streamed to the screens.
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Old Oct 14, 2018, 7:09 am
  #63  
 
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Originally Posted by mvoight
10 inch Amazon Fire was $100 during the Prime sale.. Very useful.............
Even if you can, do you bring your own towels and blankets to hotels? Do you watch TV in your living room on a tablet?
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Old Oct 14, 2018, 7:37 am
  #64  
 
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Originally Posted by Dave Noble
Well - it does cost money to carry all the IFE , so not just a service to simply provide or not provide - AA , it seems, is providing an alternative by offering wifi broadcast

If AA thinks that it will make more money by providing fixed IFE , I expect that it will change its mind and do so
AA doesn't ever seem to think about how they can make more money, only about how they can spend less.
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Old Oct 14, 2018, 9:25 am
  #65  
 
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Originally Posted by Gig103
TXGuy, we're birds of a feather in terms of the IFE and what it represents. Even though I often fly premium cabins now I like that DL isn't going 10-across on their 777s, for example and will put my money where my mouth is. I won't connect in LAX to go to SFO, but I will connect in ATL to get to EWR or PHL instead of the nonstop.
I'm based in Charlotte, AA's 2nd largest hub. Even though I enjoy having the seatback IFE instead of digging for my iPad, I can live without it. The reason I have switched my travel from AA to DL, even with a connection versus a nonstop, I refuse to sit in a seat with 30" pitch or a 10 across 777. Even though I usually purchase first/business class tickets, I don't want to chance having to sit in AA's economy class if there is a mechanical and AA can't get me in a premium cabin on a different flight or aircraft.
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Old Oct 14, 2018, 10:28 am
  #66  
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I doubt that IFE has a justifiable ROI. DL seems to look at things from a big picture prospective. Doug Parker is very much a creature of big finance. No wonder he is partial to the LCC model.
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Old Oct 14, 2018, 10:45 am
  #67  
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Originally Posted by DrunkenDuck
I’m based in Miami. I have an analyst who just flew DL and wants to shift our travel to DL from AA because of the difference in customer experience and IFE. She felt connecting was worth it via direct on AA. I haven’t flown DL or UA in 9yrs. Now I’m curious.
Probably someone who doesn’t fly very often. I’ve been on enough planes to have pretty much seen all the AVOD has to offer, so I would vote for nonstop most of the time to get to my destination. I will occasionally go out of my way though if it’s suitable to run up the extra miles to hit a status tier.
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Old Oct 14, 2018, 10:45 am
  #68  
 
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Originally Posted by deac83
IMO the IFE content (movies) has degraded over the last 6 months. Or whoever their deal with is just producing garbage. Personally I use the IFE in the background while working on my laptop. Seen everything I want to see, some of the stuff is just unwatchable, and I've tried.

People are so absolute.
Had a nice chuckle - you call the IFE content garbage, yet there are some films loaded now that are scoring 90%+ on RT/Metacritic. This thread is a nice microcosm of elites who all have different demands and ideals.

A previous poster claims all business people are working on flights - yet I use flight time as a time to watch a movie as I rarely have time otherwise (work + two small kids.) I like the IFE quite a bit because I can find something I’d never heard of and enjoy during those hours in flight.
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Old Oct 14, 2018, 11:54 am
  #69  
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Originally Posted by no1cub17
AA doesn't ever seem to think about how they can make more money, only about how they can spend less.
Given that removing IFE costs money, then by that logic, it will not be remved frin aeroplanes, sp no need to worry about it unless on brand new aeroplanes

spending less and getting same revenue => more profit
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Old Oct 14, 2018, 12:29 pm
  #70  
 
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Originally Posted by Dave Noble
Given that removing IFE costs money, then by that logic, it will not be remved frin aeroplanes, sp no need to worry about it unless on brand new aeroplanes

spending less and getting same revenue => more profit
And yet AA is getting much less in the way of revenue (proportionately) than DL. The critical miscalculation that you (and AA) have made is that spending less will lead to the same revenue. Actual data shows it isn’t true.
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Old Oct 14, 2018, 1:10 pm
  #71  
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Originally Posted by TXguy


And yet AA is getting much less in the way of revenue (proportionately) than DL. The critical miscalculation that you (and AA) have made is that spending less will lead to the same revenue. Actual data shows it isn’t true.
That you do not like the change does not mean that AA has made a critical miscalculation - it has access to a lot of details about its operations to help make decisions

maybe it has made a mistake - maybe revenur levels vs DL are just down to IFE - if it actually is a big issue that will drive customers to Delta, then I expect that it will reconsider what it does. Of the percentage that want to watch IFE on a domestic flight, I wonder what percentage are really that bopposed to a streming option that they woll move to another carrier
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Old Oct 14, 2018, 1:16 pm
  #72  
 
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Originally Posted by TXguy


And yet AA is getting much less in the way of revenue (proportionately) than DL. The critical miscalculation that you (and AA) have made is that spending less will lead to the same revenue. Actual data shows it isn’t true.
But companies care about profit, not revenue. Profit is revenue minus cost. Thus, it is possible that AA could bring in less revenue while spending less, and still wind up with the same or better profit. There's not necessarily one right strategy here.

To be honest, based on my conversations with the people in my organization who travel, DL wins more of their business because of better schedules and better operations, not because of a screen. Personally I stick mostly with AA because I have status (will hit Plat this year), but I have switched some to DL. On my most frequent route, DL has more frequency and better times. They're gradually winning more of my business that way. And I happened to notice they have more at-seat power, which is a plus for me. They also offer cheap buy-up to F, so lack of upgrades isn't an issue.

If you care that much about a screen, vote with your wallet!
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Old Oct 14, 2018, 1:44 pm
  #73  
 
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Originally Posted by TXguy


And yet AA is getting much less in the way of revenue (proportionately) than DL. The critical miscalculation that you (and AA) have made is that spending less will lead to the same revenue. Actual data shows it isn’t true.
But how can you make a positive relation between AA's lower revenue and smaller proportion of aircraft with in flight screens? At best, a very broad assumption.
That's like saying AA's flagship lounge dining causes lower revenue on AA. We have zero proof one way or the other.
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Old Oct 14, 2018, 1:48 pm
  #74  
 
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Originally Posted by wetrat0
But companies care about profit, not revenue. Profit is revenue minus cost. Thus, it is possible that AA could bring in less revenue while spending less, and still wind up with the same or better profit. There's not necessarily one right strategy here.

To be honest, based on my conversations with the people in my organization who travel, DL wins more of their business because of better schedules and better operations, not because of a screen. Personally I stick mostly with AA because I have status (will hit Plat this year), but I have switched some to DL. On my most frequent route, DL has more frequency and better times. They're gradually winning more of my business that way. And I happened to notice they have more at-seat power, which is a plus for me. They also offer cheap buy-up to F, so lack of upgrades isn't an issue.

If you care that much about a screen, vote with your wallet!
If you go back and read that post, I said nothing about costs. I obviously realize that profits = revenue - costs. I simply took issue with the idea that the revenue was the same.

And as I’ve also said, IFE is just one piece of the puzzle for me. It’s also the attitude of the staff, the on-time record, legroom and seat padding on the new/Oasis planes, width in Y on 777s, etc. IFE is one part of it, but it’s certainly not the only thing that’s causing me to shift my business to Delta.
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Last edited by TXguy; Oct 14, 2018 at 2:57 pm
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Old Oct 15, 2018, 12:12 am
  #75  
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Is this thread also on the UA forum? Because they are not putting seatback AVOD on their narrowbody fleet either.
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