cheltzel

This goes way beyond IFE/AVOD ...

http://www.thefutureofifec.com/#home

If the Smisek wants "airlines to fear us", this would be a good start.

BryanIAH

HD would be useful only if the airlines provided HD content. I have flown on TK, NH and LX planes with the new 23-inch HD screens but only a handful of HD movies/TV shows were available. The rest were grainy widescreen or standard 4:3 shows.

I would be curious to see if/how UA/CO would price a system like this. Free TV but charge for internet? Free partial internet access (CO.com, UA.com, charge for everything else)? Charge for games?

CO just put AVOD in all of the 772 and 752 fleet and will start on the 764 fleet soon. UA has completed the 744 and 763 fleet and is working on the 772s. Will Panasonic's new system provide enough extra revenue through fees and increased sales to offset the costs associated with a 2nd renovation on these recently converted jets? They could modify the PMCO fleet while E+ is added but I still don't think that it will happen anytime soon unless UA/CO gets a killer deal from Panasonic.

sbm12

CO uses the Panasonic systems today I believe so it wouldn't surprise me too much if they went this route. But I wouldn't expect significant upgrades on the 77s/75s anytime soon. I know they did a storage upgrade on the 75s at one point to add more capacity but I'd be thinking along those lines, not along other major shifts. The BF screens are pretty nice anyways; not sure they need to be much larger.

cheltzel

I hope that there is a plan to implement a standard IFE platform in the consolidated fleet.

If so, it would be nice see something feature rich.

If these units are as lightweight as Panasonic touts, it might even have an attractive payback time with the current high fuel costs. Also it has the ability to increase revenue (selling internet access).

halls120

With the growing proliferation of Ipods and other tablet competitors, does it really make sense for any airline to invest in expensive new entertainment hardware?

mintirish

From your lips to SMI/J's ears

cheltzel

If you can make money by connecting your entertainment system to the customer's device. It looks like Panasonic's new system will allow the passenger to connect with their own hardware. Not sure, just my impression from scanning through their website.

weero

With 3/4 of all seats not having AVOD in the 747 and the 767, I would not call it "completed" .

channa

CO already charges for TV, do you think they'd change that and go for free TV like DL and B6?

BryanIAH

I was referring to the premium cabin conversions of UA's fleet, but I can see how I phrased that incorrectly!

In a perfect world, the AVOD would be free like it is now on the CO 772s and 752s. I don't know if they would bother installing live TV in the international fleet unless it can operate more than 200 miles from the continental US. I can't imagine that Smisek would give live TV and internet away for free unless a competing airline forced his hand.

UA and CO still must:

• Install BF (and AVOD?) on the CO 764
• Finish the UA 772 premium cabin conversion
• Install E+ on CO 772, 764, 762?, 753, 752, 739, 738, 73G, 735?, E145?
• Finish the DirecTV installation on CO 737 fleet and CO 753 fleet
• Install AVOD on UA 744, 772, 763

Currently UA/CO has AVOD or DirecTV in:

• 22 CO 772 (50/226) - 6072 units
• 41 CO 752 (16/159) - 7175 units
• 30 CO 739ER (20/153) - 5190 units
• 12 CO 739 (20/153) - 2076 units
• 91 CO 738 - (16/144) - 14560 units
• 32 CO 73G - (12/112) - 3968 units
• 24 UA 744 (12/52) - 1536 units
• 46? UA 722 (12/49 or 8/40) - ~2300 units
• ? UA 763 (6/26) - ? units

UA/CO would need new entertainment in:

• 2 CO 739ER (20/153) - 346 units
• 30 CO 738 (16/144) - 4800 units
• 21 CO 753 (24/192) - 4536 units
• 24 UA 744 (70/240) - 7440 units
• 52 UA 772 (~200) - ~10400 units
• 35 UA 763 (~175) - ~6125 units
• 96 UA 752 (~180) - ~17280 units
• 97 UA 320 (~140) - ~13,580 units
• 55 UA 319 (8/40/72) - 7700 units
• A350/B787

CO/UA currently have ~43,000 seats with AVOD or DirecTV and might need ~67,000 more plus an additional 20,000-30,000 once the new orders arrive. Would they pay to reconvert the ~40% of the existing fleet that already has premium entertainment?

emcampbe

(bolding mine) No 50 seat jets are getting E+, so that includes the E145s.

sbm12

The CO 76s appear to be missing from the list and they'll need new hardware.

And I doubt they will pay to retrofit the existing CO777/757s. On the UA side if they can add screens and feed off the existing server infrastructure then that is likely cheaper than replacing both, though maybe they can get Panasonic to cut them a deal on the server upgrades if they're buying a bunch more screens.

trapshooter85

The only way to get E+ like seat on the ERJ is to snag one in row 12. Got to love the exit row