I was wondering if anyone knew which route has the inflight DirecTV service on a 737-900. According to the website, only one of 12 planes has the service working right now. And I was wondering if there was any way to find out if the flight I'm taking from Newark to LAS has it or not, and if not what kind of IFE it has.

There isn't a way to know until a couple days prior to the flight when you can check the PDA site to figure out which aircraft is assigned and what amenities it will have on board. The good news is that "739" on the CO schedules includes the 73E planes which are 100% converted so you have a pretty good chance of having the LiveTV system on your plane.

The flight status page on CO.com provides IFE details (but it's only available for flights from today to 2 days from now). When are you flying?

Thanks for the replies. I'm not flying until 3/21, so it would be too soon to check specifically. One more question.... how would you know if your aircraft was going to be a 900-ER? Would it state it on the reservation? Mine only says 737-900. Thanks again.


I just put in my flight number with today's date and saw that even though the plane doesn't specify that its a 900-ER, it does have the live TV and in-seat power in all rows. So I guess it doesn't specify on the aircraft information if it is an ER.

There is no way to know. The seat configurations are identical and there is no differentiation on the schedules.

I've had great success with getting DirecTV flights recently - 3 738 flights in a row, and then 2 739-ERs. System has worked perfectly on every flight too ^

I was on a 738 IAH-MEX last Tuesday (Flight 1624) with DirecTV. Too bad it doesn't work outside of US Airspace.

You will have tv. The non er version does not have the legs for ewr-las.

That isn't necessarily the case. The 737-900 has the same features as the 737-800, with the ability to cram in a few more folks. Both the -800 and -900 are completely capable of transcon flights.

Did the pause the last 11 739's that need to be configed with live tv. I remember back in the holidays they had an issue and paused it. It seems now its the 738's that are getting it, there hasn't been a 739 to get it in a while now.

It is absolutely the case. The 737-900 (non-er) does not fly ewr-las for Continental or any other airline. So the op will have tv because he is 100% guaranteed to be on a 739er. The 738 has a range advantage to the 739.

I beg to differ, mrtruman. The 737-900 absolutely has the legs for EWR-LAS, it's the return that becomes problematic with the hot-and-high nature of LAS. When CO has operated the 737-900 between Newark and Las Vegas, it would usually be scheduled late in the day when temperatures are lower.

EWR-LAS is only 1935nm, so it falls within the 737-900's envelope, but could certainly be weight-restricted when conditions require. With 30 -900ERs now in the fleet, I agree with you, there is no need for CO to schedule the less-capable baseline -900 models on longer hauls. However, it is technically possible, and has happened on numerous occasions.

I'll take the time to look at the 737-900 performance data when I can, but my internet is being painfully slow at the moment, and a download of that size would probably take me over an hour.

While I disagree for many reasons including the ewr-las leg goes against the jet stream and is a much longer flight. The fact remains that the op will have a direct tv flight because co does not fly the base 739 to las from ewr.

I have flown a a320 jfk-las many times too. I have also had to stop many time in phx along the way for fuel.

From boeings website:

"The 737-900ER can carry 26 more passengers or fly about 500 nautical miles farther than the 737-900. Aerodynamic and structural design changes such as an additional pair of exit doors, a flat rear pressure bulkhead allow more room for up to 215 passengers. Other changes such as a two-position tailskid, wing strengthening changes, enhancements to the leading and trailing edge flap systems, and optional Blended Winglets and auxiliary fuel tanks increase the range of the 737-900ER to 3,200 nautical miles (5,925 km).

The longer range of the 737-900ER will connect distant city pairs across continents (e.g., Seattle to Orlando, or San Francisco to Boston) in a generous two-class configuration. "

Quite interesting considering that PHX is only 90 miles closer than LAS.

agreed but nevertheless necessary if you cant make it or are below required minimums. A good site to visit for more details is airliners.net.

Jetblue and the a320 are notorious for weight restrictions and fuel stops.