Kacee

That's not what the article says. It notes a trend among some carriers. With specific reference to WN, which doesn't make much sense if you're trying to identify a trend, since they've never had in seat screens.

Most first tier airlines are still putting video screens in their new long-haul aircraft. Which is exactly what the cited article says:

emcampbe

Says who?

While most carriers, and even other UA longhaul aircraft do have personal tvs, nowhere does UA advertise personal tvs in their 747s in economy. Please show me where they do say that, otherwise, there is no such edict that they are 'supposed to'. Note that the UA fleet site shows 17 747s in service (which are all being retired before the end of this year). This is a small fraction of the UA longhaul fleet, and will be zero soon. Also the only UA aircraft in the longhaul fleet without personal screens. And new aircraft deliveries do still have AVOD with personal screens.

As for those flying internationally, seems LY has streaming entertainment on some of its long-haul aircraft (like 767). AC Rouge also uses it on their long-haul flights.

Again, this is on a very small portion of the long-haul fleet, going to zero in a few months. I'd be curious to know 'the standard amenities' UA doesn't have vs. other carriers.

And UA is among them. While they have moved to streaming entertainment on the domestic fleet (save for the 737s with DirecTV, which can't for the moment), their long-haul fleet, including new deliveries (i.e. 787, 77W) still have personal screens/AVOD, and I suspect the additional new long-haul deliveries (i.e. A350s) will as well. That will mean 100% of the UA long-haul fleet will have personal screens in them once the 747s are retired.

yyz_atc_qq

Do your research before you buy a ticket.... Period

s0ssos

Where does LY fly the 767's? Not to the US. And AC Rouge is basically a budget airline (maybe worse).

You can say it is wrong to presume United is not a budget carrier, but most people expect certain things. You can say they are wrong, but where does UA say they will provide toilet paper? So if you go onto a flight and there is no toilet paper-aww, you should have done some research. It is BYOTP!

And it is no consolation to those who sit in a 14 hour flight without personal TVs that UA may/will have personal TVs in the future.

br2k

The last time I flew on that plane, the Internet connection (to the world) did not work (not unexpected, I have little success with UA WiFi TPAC), and in addition the local movie service ("Personal Device Entertainment") did not work either. UA crew was clueless and gave ridiculous excuses about "satellites coming in and out of view" wrt. PDE. I posted about that experience earlier on the forum.

So yes, I would get ready for a very quiet and dark 10+ hours, with some of the worst possible food and terrible seats (sagging seat cushions with sides sticking out, that are not fastened properly to the seat frame and slide out as you move).

emcampbe

Well, unfortunately, people need to do a little more research than which flight is the absolute cheapest option without looking at what their needs may be. If they require a personal TV in economy, then a UA 747 isn't the aircraft to fly on. It doesn't take a genius to look this info. up - in fact, it doesn't take much longer than a minute to do so. If people want to go to the cheapest fare, that's fine, but if this is the only consideration they are looking at when booking, then that's an issue. Every carrier is different. And even the publicized info. on a personalized screen or not can be incomplete. NH offers AVOD on their long-haul fleet, but I'd argue many Americans would be disappointed at the content available - much more geared toward a Japanese/Asian audience.

As for LY, according to https://www.elal.com/en/PassengersIn...Streaming.aspx, from El Al's website:

When you asked about what other carriers use BYOD, you didn't specify to/from the US, but even if you had, BOS, last I checked, is still in the US. That's a 12 hour flight. So is YYZ. To the other destinations, BOM is 8 hours, PEK is 9 and a half, J'burg is about the same. BKK would be about 9 hours too.

No, its not a consulation to say its personal tvs in the future - but in truth, it already pretty much is, except on a few routes. I've found a way around flying in a UA 747 because I agree the experience isn't the right one for me, so I've found a way to get where I need to go on a 777 or another carrier. Again, if people did just a few minutes of research to prep themselves for a long trip like this, it would go a long way to avoid disappointment.

s0ssos

I am wrong to say El Al doesn't have that, I guess I know their JFK and LAX flights don't.
My friend was surprised when he flew UA to HKG and found out the plane was a super-old 747 with no personal TVs.
I just feel some things one should be able to take for granted. Like alcohol that is free on-board a long haul. But then, with American carriers, I guess nothing should be taken for granted.

Kacee

That is a common reaction . . . many who are unfamiliar with UA's fleet are surprised that the 744 doesn't have personal video screens in economy (and also express surprise generally about the age and poor condition of the cabin).

UA should have updated these cabins years ago but was never willing to commit the capital to do it.