Any news/updates about UA planes getting DirecTV like many of the CO planes?
#2
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: CLE
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I can not recall seeing anything specific, but my instincts tell me that there will NOT be a retrofit of the legacy UA aircraft. If anything, I think most of the airlines are going to move towards WIFI based in-flight entertainment.
#3
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Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: PSM
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Nothing announced and I agree that the trend towards wifi is growing. The question is how they'll get there. The current plan for wide-spread wifi deployment piggybacks on the LiveTV platform hardware. They can certainly just do half the kit and only put in wifi but I'm not sure how likely that is. All comes down to who is paying and how much, I suppose.
#4
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 5,814
I heard they were looking at some type of Ka band solution (for international flights) for the UA birds. I forget where I read that but it would include both TV and internet.
Nevertheless, it will be awhile before that happens -- I feel like cell towers will have the range of cruising altitudes before we get wifi/tv on those birds.
Nevertheless, it will be awhile before that happens -- I feel like cell towers will have the range of cruising altitudes before we get wifi/tv on those birds.
#5
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: CLE
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There was an announcement about satellite-based inflight internet, but the service can not be tested/approved/implemented until the satellite is launched later this year.
As for DirecTV, don't forget that CO pays very little - if anything - to have the system installed. Given the anticipated move towards streaming entertainment, I really do not think DirecTV will be willing to install systems across the legacy UA fleet as they may not be able to recoup the cost.
As for DirecTV, don't forget that CO pays very little - if anything - to have the system installed. Given the anticipated move towards streaming entertainment, I really do not think DirecTV will be willing to install systems across the legacy UA fleet as they may not be able to recoup the cost.
#6
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Agreed, though perhaps the numbers for the combined system will be favorable.
#7
Join Date: May 2006
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For this non technophile, is there a summary of why some airlines, now UACO, can't seem to get wifi up? And is it particularly with certain satellite systems? For example, Southwest has humiliated itself with the announcement that "It's finally here!" only to go quiet and have its apologists, especially on that FlyerTalk board, work to pick up the pieces, time after time, for years now. Thank you.
#8
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 5,814
For this non technophile, is there a summary of why some airlines, now UACO, can't seem to get wifi up? And is it particularly with certain satellite systems? For example, Southwest has humiliated itself with the announcement that "It's finally here!" only to go quiet and have its apologists, especially on that FlyerTalk board, work to pick up the pieces, time after time, for years now. Thank you.
#9
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Join Date: Apr 2001
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In September 2010 LiveTV announced that they were going to move to a satellite-based system instead. This would be a next-gen system and it would be super fast and wonderful but it depends on getting a satellite into orbit so as to provide complete coverage over the USA. That launch has seen several delays for a variety of reasons, including being damaged in transit to a test facility, bumped because of higher-profile (i.e. higher paying) cargo and, most recently, because the launch facility has a rocket failure so everything is on hold until that gets figured out. That last one was just last month and I do not know the net result of that move.
At one point CO planned a proper trial comparing both the LiveTV and gogo services but the failure of the LiveTV killed that off. Then the merger talks heated up and both companies pretty much froze their efforts to do much of anything with respect to wifi (and several other things).
I cannot speak to the history with UA as I don't know it as well but I do know that the adoption numbers of the service were generally pretty low from the companies who installed it and that the RoI for having it on board was a pretty tough equation to make good on.
I do know that UA has gogo on the p.s. fleet (relatively low investment cost and relatively high uptake in theory on a "premium" business route), though even there the numbers weren't great. And they have the one Row44 plane flying around.
While this is true the service was never supposed to be available prior to Q2/3 2012. So it isn't actually late. Yet.
#10
Join Date: May 2006
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Thank you, and thank you also for putting it all together. Sooo... It seems to be difficult to distinguish between "technical", "managerial" and (inter-) "organizational" problems. But probably if the technical aspect were solidly resolved, there then would be the momentum to make it fly. Or maybe it's squabbling over something that could be really big?
Last edited by Firewind; Sep 25, 2011 at 4:36 pm