UA-NYC

Apparently not the wave of the future for DL and AA @:-)

mirage47

Besides spotty entertainment and the absurd lack of in seat power, the arm rests do not go all the way up too! Hard to sleep with empty seats next to you as happened to me last night on flight 218 hnl to ord. We are simply cargo that pays Jeffy.

Morse

I find it hard to believe that small monitors embedded in seats (PC's) are any more expensive difficult to fix than a high speed satellite based Ethernet system, with on board WiFi.

sbm12

Depends on who you ask. The guys making the system UA is using on the 737s (Thales/LiveTV) are on record as saying they think it is possible to produce an in-seat product which is light enough and cheap enough that it can cover its costs through "partnerships" (read advertising & ancillary revenue from on-board sales).

The IFE system doesn't need the satellite bits; it only uses the on-board server. And that hardware is basically the same as what the in-seat AVOD system would need anyways. After that the difference is whether you wire a few WiFi APs or run cabling to every seat. Not hard to believe the former is cheaper than the latter.


n.b. The link above is to my blog or to one which I am a regular contributor. FT rules require that I disclose that in the post.

LaserSailor

Nice!!

Seriously - granted the read is certainly entertaining at least....you can get a copy of the NYP for free with the Economist too...

Boo_Radley

I don't mind the streaming IFE system, as long as it works. That said, I really wish I didn't have to pack extra power for long flights; at seat power would make the whole thing a lot more straightforward.

And yes, the android app now supports streaming IFE.

Kacee

There are really two issues here which keep getting confounded:

1. Personal device streaming replacing seat-back entertainment;

2. The implementation and functionality of the UA system.

I have no problem with No. 1. No. 2, however, has been handled quite poorly. The lack of in-seat power is ridiculous and the system is unreliable. And it's taking UA too long to resolve these issues. It was quite obvious from the FA's many announcements on my recent HNL flight that they are dealing with scores of pissed off pax on every flight.

flyinbob

No, the OP was correct in saying UA provides no entertainment. Saying there is because there is WiFi is like going to a hotel and having them say there is cable in your room but you have to bring your own TV. To expect families and others to lug not only personal devices but backup batteries as well is ridiculous, and just another classic United "enhancement" gone bust.

emcampbe

I bet WN flyers would say the similar system they have is entertainment.

The fact is the OP claimed UA offered no entertainment on the flight, yet this is seemingly not true. If they didn't have the equipment to view it, it's a bit of a different story - it means the OP couldn't access the entertainment, but not that UA didn't offer it. there at all.

UA advertises personal device entertainment (I've even seen signs in the airport) and the flight status tool specifically says if the flight has it, specifically calls it "personal device entertainment" service, and even specifies the type of devices it works with. Can't get much clearer than that. You can surely debate about the content or quality, whether there should be a source to power up your device in the aircraft, or other details, etc, but you can't argue it wasn't there, unless the OPs aircraft didn't actually have it.

mduell

The same guys who can't get the presentation of the TV picture right on equipment they've been fielding for 5+ years - you're left to choose between distortion or letterboxing and pillarboxing (reducing the display to about half of the screen area) on most channels I've tried.