1010101

Who says they'd be cheaper? Do the airlines drop their fares when oil price falls? Initial marketing led fares would quickly return to previous levels.

Apple have sold 67 million iPads so far - Delta alone carries getting on for 3 times that many people each year. Step out of F/J once in a while and personal tablets are not that common at all, and on long haul IFE is a big selling point.

hillrider

All you have to do is fly AA 763s to see what long(ish) flights without PTV feels like.

Incidentally, in business class AA distributes tablets to make up for the lack of IFE, and on a day flight >50% of the pax are using them (sometimes even higher). Which indicates a strong preference for airline-provided IFE over make-your-own.

gms

I think you'll find the light pollution from a cabin full of iPads much worse. Potential noise pollution too when people forget their headphones and switch on the speaker (or use those crappy in ear headphones that seem to let half the noise spill out).

AJLondon

My apologies for not being clear. You are both absolutely correct that the LH Airbus fleet do have PTV's in Y. It is the 747's (25 odd?) do not have it in Y. (And those are also scheduled to be retired in the next few years.)

However, my point is more to do with the fact that the "average" Y pax (certainly not experienced FTers!) would be more worried about price and other related factors, as opposed to whether the specific aircraft has IFE...

irishguy28

Exactly!

If I'm going to be hiking through jungles and driving across deserts or rafting down rivers, I'm not going to be bringing a laptop or iPad with me. If you're not travelling for work you don't need to bring that stuff and if you're on holidays the only time you need to be entertained is when you're stuck in your long-haul seat with not much else to do.

And I'd pity the large families who didn't know they had to buy a portable DVD player/iPad/notebook for each of the kiddies.

By all means, take the IFE out of the premium cabins, but leave it in economy, where it is not only needed, but prized!!!!

irishguy28

That may be true, but having been stuck in a tired old plane with no view of the overhead monitor that was supposed to serve their needs all the way from FRA to BKK and on to KUL, they may decide that next time, paying that tiny bit extra on a different airline is a more tempting prospect...

By the by, LH are considering pulling their BKK route - as well as some other Asian routes - not because they're not getting the loads, but because they're not getting the yield. I would certainly avoid flying Y in the old LH 747s. But looking forward to trying the new 787-800 (AVOD in Y).

nwmgc

Who would have thought we would ever be faced with such a dilemma? We managed for years without any 'entertainment' - certainly none on my first long haul trip forty years ago on a 707 (ignoring an emergency landing at JFK) - but it was before the days of packing 'em in. Whilst the debate maybe be premature, there is no doubt that the way (and what) people choose to receive media is changing very rapidly. Goodness knows, it might be by way of an implant before very long.

HIDDY

Me too....and to assume everyone that travels in Y has such devices is total poppycock. No room there to watch a laptop anyway. While I'm not IFE obsessed I do like to have the option of watching it.

It might happen but not inside 10 years.

irishguy28

Well, at least in those days, you could smoke, and stagger up and down to the lounge/bar and mingle with the other pax. Now you can't even congregate round the toilets!!!!

Besides, in those days, it was never too far to the next refuelling stop, so you were never cooped up in your battery-hen-seat for very long. Though I suspect there was far more space to spread out in, back then!!!!

YClass

I once took Air India J to NYC with business colleagues as it was half price of BA J. It was swiftly decided that we would never do it again. Sadly for the BA, LH and QFs of the world, EK et al are cheaper and have better IFE. If I can avoid it, I also don't use Thompson, Ryanscare or Easy.

A large portion of the world's population still think an iPad is silly/unnecessary concept (I totally disagree my self!), and expensive.

USA_flyer

I consider myself an average flyer and fly economy. I would avoid an airline that didn't have PTV.

09R

Don't AA have video on demand whereby you can connect to their entertainment system wirelessly?

Now that could be an idea

HIDDY

Indeed they might be very popular and affordable in the UK but they certainly aren't much in evidence here. I haven't seen anyone with an iPhone or an iPad for that matter.

exilencfc

Thinking about it, I wouldn't so much mind the lack of PTV as the behaviours of fellow pax in their deprivation. Kids running everywhere, people getting drunk because they've nothing better to do, actually having to *shudder* talk to people...

dddc

No. No. No.

As posted above, not everyone has a laptop or tablet, nor do I want to be getting mine out having the tray table down the whole flight, trapped by myriad of power and headphone cables - imagaine being in a window seat and trying to get out if your seat mates are all plugged in.

Can you imagine what it would be like when the crew announce that it's time to get the cabin ready for landing and ~300 people are all try to get to the overheads to put their equipment away?

And what about content? The article didn't mention the saving to the airline for the rights to screen films, tv shows or playing music. I don't download firms. I go the cinema nearly every week and see new realeases which is what I tend to watch on flights with IFE.

If we're going to be told to bring our own entertainment onboard, why not let us bring our own food onboard and get the crew to heat it up for us and keep our champers chilled!!!