oscietra

Many airlines have tailcams, especially on their A380s.

BA doesn't seem to go in for tailcams. Not sure it's even offered by Boeing for BA's most recent 777-300ER deliveries.

Will BA's A380 have a tailcam? Is it something people are keen on seeing aboard BA?

Can I help you

I think that this is something that people really enjoy and now expect, I have no idea if BA will be having these on the A380 or B787, but I really hope they do.

highpeaklad

And what about nose cam/belly cam. Even Air China had them on their 777s 10 years ago.

OPebble

When you are flying at 39,000 ft above solid cloud, what's the point?

My last ANA flight from NRT had a bellycam and I tried it a few times but the topside of clouds is a bit boring.

Prospero

I do know for certain BA's new 773s have cameras mounted on the rear vertical and horizontal stabilisers which provides the flight deck with a visual check of the engines etc. There may be other externally mounted cameras I'm not aware of.

I'm sure there is a good reason why BA chose not to feed the footage onto an IFE channel but I doubt it's a CAA regulation since bmi's A330 have this facility. Anyway, I'd rather enjoy the opportunity to follow the live feed whilst sipping my G&T

BicesterTerrier

Watching from the tail of an IB A340 (?) take off from MAD on a grey cloudy day and breaking through the clouds was a fantastic view. I love the tail cams, so yes please for me on BA.

eightblack

We have them on Bling Air. On the 777, one forward and one facing the ground. On the A380, one in the tail and then the same forward and downward facing.

On a recent trip to AKL, I had the forward camera going as we were coming into land and I swear, I thought the pilot was going to ditch the thing into the water, due to the crosswind. I was clutching the bottle of Dom with both hands, and I might have let the odd profanity let rip...

They're not the camera's which provide the crew the entertainment though. It's the ones mounted at the rear ceiling of the F cabin and throughout the J cabin that could make a highlight reel for the next SexPo in Vegas...

mad_rich

The first time I saw one it was a nice novelty. After that, it sort of lost its appeal.

Seems like an expensive gimmick to me.

paulwuk

Ba don't have them because BA is a painfully outdated carrier.

dark_horse

I call "troll!"

BicesterTerrier

Once flew Bling Air to NBO (I was young and foolish, I am sorry), as we got closer to the ground I noticed on the screen there was no sign of the runway, I looked out of the window and it was right there, the cross winds had us coming in at a right old jaunty angle.

Maybe someone else can confirm this next point. I am sure that the downward facing cameras on Bling Air (early 2000's) had a "zoom" of some sort. I recall having had a few drinks in the airport, a few more on the flight and then watching the downward facing camera as we flow over some place that you could see lights on (street lights?), anyway, they suddenly got a lot closer, I thought we were falling out of the sky. As I was in Y the screen was so close to me that I didn't have many other reference points in the cabin.

paulwuk

On the contrary, almost everything about BA is outdated.

Perhaps it's due to the 8 hour daytime flight I've got coming up on a 777 with no avod, however when you compare BA to other carriers, QF, EK, SQ, etc it simply falls behind.

From what I can tell, BA has been resting on it's laurels since putting flat beds in J. New F and New W/Y are incremental improvements. Some routes (TLV, CAI) are regressing. Short-haul planes are a joke. European 767s (cabins) are falling apart, across the long haul fleet even the non 777 IFE is tiny and small.

A lot of people on the plane rely on the IFE to entertain themselves. The age of BAs fleet allows no flexibility. Even the 747's

Perhaps the 777-300 is better, I've never flown on it. Perhaps the 787 and A380 will be better once BA finally gets what's now old-hat at other carriers (even then BA only have 12 ordered - EK already have 22, with another 90 on order. Qantas have 12 with 20 more on order)

For me, especially since moving to MAN, BA's redeeming factor is the luggage allowance (4x32kg from corporate agreement), and the availability of W.

Heathrow's lack of suitability as an airport for a major carrier is only one part of the sorry state that BA is in, it's relying a lot on it's brand and loyalty of it's frequent flyers.

T8191

Staying on-topic, I would like to have a camera.

Then I would also like IFE available from boarding. And drinkable coffee, and a bread plate

And perhaps, as paulwuk says, there are more pressing issues to address.

bealine

I think you will find that the use of nose cams, belly cams and tail cams are banned in UK airspace. Emirates came under attack about 10 - 12 years ago under the privacy laws when it became clear that people's private houses were being snooped on by passengers on approach to LHR. Emirates agreed to turn the cameras off whenever their aircraft is in British airspace.

In the UK, under advice from the Information Commisioner's Office, the use of closed-circuit TV cameras should be restricted to the "prevention and detection of crome only". The ability to "snoop" on individuals could result in prosecution.

When Terminal 5 was opened, certain British Airways managers and supervisors were using the cameras to "spy" on staff. The cameras are so clear in the Terminal, that the operator can actually read a boarding card, or what is displayed on your mobile phone or laptop screen, over your shoulder. The situation was brought to a head when a check in girl was asked to move a few steps to the right so they could "see her legs better" and BA narrowly escaped prosecution after agreeing that the CCTV's would not be misused.

I understand from BAA staff that their managers and supervisors do still abuse the use of CCTV cameras regularly and have, so far, got away with it under the dubious excuses of a "security need".

If other airlines are using cameras in British airspace, then the matter needs reporting.

1010101

EK are an oil rich government's plaything and QF are going bust. I'd prefer it if BA didn't try to replicate either of them.

Back on topic - i've enjoyed onboard cameras before on other airlines, but it is definitely a novely. Assuming its a quick bit of software coding to allow the existing cameras to be shown on the existing Thales IFE, then im all for it. Otherwise, it sounds like a lot of expense for not much benefit.