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-   -   Does anyone here remember the Old drop down Screen on B738 first class (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-airlines-aadvantage/2164063-does-anyone-here-remember-old-drop-down-screen-b738-first-class.html)

allianceflyer9506 Jun 16, 2024 12:32 am

Does anyone here remember the Old drop down Screen on B738 first class
 
Flew LAX-EWR in 2004 in Domestic First Class and when I flew it My IFE option was the drop down screen in the aisle. For those that flew AA in 2004 onwards when those were replaced by what we have now Streaming only. Does anyone here remember that option on B737-800s domestic first class? For me I enjoyed it

FlyingEgghead Jun 16, 2024 1:40 am

No doubt, most here remember the dropdown screens since AA had them on some planes until just a few years ago. They were in Y as well as F. When you say "in the aisle", I think you mean on both sides of the aisle under the overhead bins, centered over the 2 seats (F) or 3 seats (Y).

PHL Jun 16, 2024 7:28 am

For many years, USAirways got the Airbuses delivered with the LCD screens above the left and right sides of the cabin, every several rows. I remember when they were ripped out not long after the HP-US merger, with management claiming the reduced costs in weight, maintenance and content licensing would save them millions.

I did find some pics of AA planes with the screens in both the aisle and over the seats/under the overhead bins on 737's.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...263d790aca.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1426b0f5ad.jpg


ryanbriar Jun 16, 2024 8:58 am

The 321Ts still have drop-downs (nearly permanently in the half-down position) for the safety videos.

AlwaysAisle Jun 16, 2024 9:02 am


Originally Posted by FlyingEgghead (Post 36308649)
No doubt, most here remember the dropdown screens since AA had them on some planes until just a few years ago. They were in Y as well as F. When you say "in the aisle", I think you mean on both sides of the aisle under the overhead bins, centered over the 2 seats (F) or 3 seats (Y).

I think OP is talking about the onboard screen a generation before that. Before drop down small flat screen on under the overhead bins, 738 and 752 had cathode tube TV like (do you remember those?) screen mounted on the celling in the aisle. The celling at the front area was low so that screen in the front of the first row of first class was drop down mounted in the celling. FAs had to manually pull down the TV for safety demonstration and in flight Entertainement. I remember that those screens had to be stowed during takeoff and landing, when going to the lav during the flight, I had to clear my head a little to avoid my head slamming into the screen.

lrdpenn Jun 16, 2024 9:08 am

In their final years on short hops, I always wondered who elected to show the annoying NBC universal content over a simple flight tracker map, or how much AA was being paid by NBC for that


Originally Posted by AlwaysAisle (Post 36309172)
I think OP is talking about the onboard screen a generation before that. Before drop down small flat screen on under the overhead bins, 738 and 752 had cathode tube TV like (do you remember those?) screen mounted on the celling in the aisle.

Lol my memory of those on the 752, not too long ago, is one getting stuck half way down and the FA punching it quite hard to unjam it.


enviroian Jun 16, 2024 9:16 am


Originally Posted by allianceflyer9506 (Post 36308578)
Flew LAX-EWR in 2004 in Domestic First Class and when I flew it My IFE option was the drop down screen in the aisle. For those that flew AA in 2004 onwards when those were replaced by what we have now Streaming only. Does anyone here remember that option on B737-800s domestic first class? For me I enjoyed it

I don't on AA because 20 years ago I wasn't flying AA I was living in Scottsdale flying HP. However on HP they had the same dropdowns on their 'buses and always enjoyed watching "Just for Laughs".

PLeblond Jun 16, 2024 9:34 am

100%. The CRT TVs on Narrow-bodies. How about the Projectors on the bulkhead walls for movies on Wide-bodies.

My 2nd trip on a commercial airplane included a connection on AA DC-10 ORD-LAX. You had to decipher from the pages near the back of the In Flight Magazine what movie you might get depending on if it was the First half of the month, or the back half, and whether you were travelling Eastbound or Westbound. And even then sometimes it was a different movie...


AlwaysAisle Jun 16, 2024 9:49 am

I also remember hollow plastic tube "earbuds" for the sound. There is something said about the pull-down screen on the front of the cabin on wide bodies, the screen size. I wonder if people are satisfied with watching content on a cell phone's small screen. When I want to see a movie or live stream TV (usually a sports game) during the flight, I take out my laptop computer because of the size of the screen.

HaleiwaFlyer Jun 16, 2024 10:22 am


Originally Posted by allianceflyer9506 (Post 36308578)
Flew LAX-EWR in 2004 in Domestic First Class and when I flew it My IFE option was the drop down screen in the aisle. For those that flew AA in 2004 onwards when those were replaced by what we have now Streaming only. Does anyone here remember that option on B737-800s domestic first class? For me I enjoyed it

Pretty sure Fiji Airways still fly their 737 with VHS movies. If you want nostalgia, just fly their HNL to NAN and enjoy the VHS movies with a Fiji bitter.

enviroian Jun 16, 2024 10:40 am


Originally Posted by HaleiwaFlyer (Post 36309325)
Pretty sure Fiji Airways still fly their 737 with VHS movies. If you want nostalgia, just fly their HNL to NAN and enjoy the VHS movies with a Fiji bitter.

I remember flying a UA 744 (think it was called global first for about 70K RT miles) from SFO-LHR in 2009 and you were given your own personal VHS C library. lol

A319 V2500 Jun 16, 2024 10:45 am


Originally Posted by lrdpenn (Post 36309190)
In their final years on short hops, I always wondered who elected to show the annoying NBC universal content over a simple flight tracker map, or how much AA was being paid by NBC for that

I remember these on the 767-300s

TxDucky Jun 16, 2024 11:35 am


Originally Posted by AlwaysAisle (Post 36309271)
I also remember hollow plastic tube "earbuds" for the sound. There is something said about the pull-down screen on the front of the cabin on wide bodies, the screen size. I wonder if people are satisfied with watching content on a cell phone's small screen. When I want to see a movie or live stream TV (usually a sports game) during the flight, I take out my laptop computer because of the size of the screen.

I recall the time before the screens, with the plastic tubes and a “menu” of programs (stole a pic from a BA entertainment brochure on eBay)

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...6ef584e5d.jpeg

FlyingEgghead Jun 16, 2024 5:38 pm


Originally Posted by PHL (Post 36309026)
I did find some pics of AA planes with the screens in both the aisle and over the seats/under the overhead bins on 737's.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...263d790aca.jpg

Important caveat: That picture with dropdown screens over the aisle is not a real AA plane! What shocked and confused me is that the safety card indicates the MAX 8, which was first delivered to AA in 2017 and has never had IFE screens. Also, the American Way cover is from January 2018. Sure enough, the photo is actually of a training mockup that does not match the actual configuration.

Antarius Jun 16, 2024 6:24 pm


Originally Posted by FlyingEgghead (Post 36310023)
Important caveat: That picture with dropdown screens over the aisle is not a real AA plane! What shocked and confused me is that the safety card indicates the MAX 8, which was first delivered to AA in 2017 and has never had IFE screens. Also, the American Way cover is from January 2018. Sure enough, the photo is actually of a training mockup that does not match the actual configuration.

Good eye. It didn't sit right for me as well - AA had the CRTs in the aisle with the initial delivery of the 738s, which were then replaced with the small LCD dropdowns in the overhead. The 752s went from CRT to LCD overheads in the aisle. I do not recall any LCD screens in the aisle on 737s.

It appears to be a training mock up from this company: https://www.newton-design.com/lm-cabin-service


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