HeathrowGuy

Many carriers have chosen not to install PTVs in Y on their 744s.

Axey

Aside from Lufthansa, which carriers would that be?

emma dog

Actually, it seems easy to me. The length of time and description of gutting the plane makes me think that they're going to do it on a C or D check when it's already in maintenance. During a D check, all of the seats and carpet are removed anyway.

For my speculation, I bet that they pull 2 of the same type of plane around the same time. It would save on the scheduling logistics (i.e. which style of plane is flying from point A to B on a routine basis).

zac

I agree with UA on this decision. I don't like it, but it's the same one I would make. Y flyers are almost universally concerned with one thing: price. And, if the Y flyers themselves aren't, then the people writing their travel policies are.

bschaff1

But what you fail to acknowledge are amenities, and all that United's competitors on route have to make mention of is their in-flight amenities. EG: Korean Air, Cathay Pacific, Singapore, ANA, and many others all offer superior coach IFE compared to United, and all it takes is for Expedia, Orbitz, and the other booking engines that many people us to start displaying this information and as long as the price is within a few dollars, United's 747 fleet has just become a draw instead of a savings on IFE costs.

ORDGuy79

I know, I'm not a fan of this either but I can see UA's logic. The price sensitivity of Y is severe, and I think if someone can save $50-$100 by flying on a UA 744 and not have IFE, they'll probably do it.

Conversely, I cannot imagine that UA would want to drop a lot of $$$$ into the Y cabins on the 744s, as by 2020 about 1/3 to 1/2 of the 744 fleet will be 30+ years old, which is ancient by 747 standards. As I've posted before, I think most pax airlines have rarely kept a 747 beyond 20 years (TWA being the rare exception that I knew of).

GlobalSTL

UA Just got bad press RE: no Personal TV in Y:


Heir fare
Sydney Morning Herald
Jane E. Fraser
June 24, 2007

"The key factors for children are inflight entertainment, activity packs and meals - in other words, distraction and sustenance. Most major airlines now have individual screens throughout economy, with a selection of children's videos and music.

The notable exception is United Airlines, which would make it my last-resort choice for the 13-hour-plus flight to Los Angeles."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/tips/the-...019266827.html

DogHead

Not necessarily, just read on ...

" ... Today's gathering is a very, very valuable reminder, especially to me personally, that the business will not always be about financial restructuring ...
... And it will always be about the customer. And, if I were to only impart one message from this podium today, it would be that, and the fact that I'm given the opportunity to remind myself of that is a very, very good thing ...
...
... As technology becomes easier to use, more accessible and less costly, regardless of where our customers and passengers happen to be, they increasingly expect the entertainment and the information choices available to them inflight to be as instantaneous and as varied as they are on the ground ...
... At the same time, because of the proliferation of small, relatively inexpensive electronic devices passengers really don't need to rely any longer on inflight offerings for entertainment. They are certainly no longer a captive audience. We have their bodies on board, but we can't be guaranteed that we have their attention, and we've all witnessed this phenomenon. All they have to do is load up their laptops, their personal DVDs or their interactive electronic games.
We need, as a collective, to create the compelling high-quality content and new value-added business services that will compete successfully for their attention. And when they think of all of those options available to them, they need to think first of us, and they need to be convinced that we, in turn, are thinking of them.
And we need to deliver up-to-date technology to convey the message and to deliver the product. We have to find opportunities to grab our customers' focus onboard, and in a very significant way, we need to have them thinking about the experience as a pleasurable one. If we can't provide options that our customers will choose over what they will bring along themselves, we've lost the revenue and customer satisfaction opportunities, and we've lost the opportunity to differentiate ourselves.
Our offerings need to be more sophisticated and interactive, because giving our passengers greater choice and more control over content can be a huge influence on customer satisfaction and comfort, as I've said, in these difficult times.
I get to see this, as you can imagine, very, very often and I get to see it up close and personal. On my return from Narita to Chicago, as I walk our 777's, with screens and entertainment choices at every seat throughout the airplane, the contentedness of our United passengers is palpable. And, when I stop to talk to them about that, it is much appreciated. We're not simply moving them from point A to point B, we're making our expression of appreciation understood."

Glenn F. Tilton at The World Airline Entertainment Association (WAEA)
September 09, 2003

Visionary or what?

alc217

If UA isn't going to put IFE into each seat in Y, then I would at least expect them to put an electrical plug into each seat in Y, similar to the Exec Economy seats on SQ. Then, to which Tilton so eloquently eluded, customers can supply their own IFE.

dfs24

Well, it would be TG. And I thought LH has decided to install PTVs in the 744? Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

bhmlurker

Huh Glenn? All seats in Y and some in C/F don't have in-flight power. If you provide every seat with 110/220V, I don't think anyone would care about in-flight entertainment. I know I wouldn't.

NRT-ORD? The contentness of pax is palpable? That's because they're ASLEEP and dreaming of Japanese beer machines!

Axey

If LH+TG = "many", I'm not sure what "a few" is.

My point was that on the routes UA flies, only LH (who shares revenue with UA) is equally awful in terms of 744 Y entertainment. Most other longhaul carriers UA competes with to asia and europe have PTV's in Y. As for TG, I don't think they currently fly 744's to the US, do they?

UA and LH are at the bottom of the pile.

And no, no PTV on LH's 744 in Y

blueman2

Oh, one other thing I forgot to mention from my discussion with the guy on my HKG-SFO flight: UA is moving away from the 15V power plugs to US standard 110V outlets. No mention of whether this is just F and C. I did not ask.

lucky9876coins

Now that would be nice! I still haven't gotten empower!

bschaff1

Add the following carriers to the no PTV in Y on US flights list...
-Asiana's 747s, these are due for a cabin re-fit
-Alitalia's 767s
-US Airways' 767-200s, these will be replaced with A330's
-Some of Air France's 747s
-Some of Delta's 767s, but re-fits are eliminating this
-EVA Air's 747s, these seem to be going to cargo conversions
-KLM's MD-11s and 747s
-Northwest's 747s

However, take into account that United has 30 747s and they will be doing complete overhauls on the cabins of these planes. They adopted PTV technology with their 777s when they were new in 1995 and introduced new 747's after that but neglected to do this. It's pathetic that a fleet with a 15 year old interior will have better in cabin amenities than a fleet re-fitted in 2010 where the main expense in the 15 year old interiors that has plummeted are the actual LCD screens which are less than a quarter of the cost in 1995. By the time United's cabin re-fits are complete they will have one of 5 fleets that fly to the USA internationally with no PTV's in economy.