Wireless Entertainment Is Coming To A Plane Near You

Imagine sitting on your flight, and having the choice of hundreds of movies, TV shows, songs and games, right at your fingertips, from your Tablet or smart phone. It's not as far off as you think as Lufthansa
announced yesterday it will step into the realm of wireless in flight entertainment.

Lufthansa made waves yesterday at ITB Berlin Travel Fair, as they shared that they will introduce wireless in flight entertainment (IFE) to a portion of their fleet this summer on board 20 of their Airbus A321 aircraft, flying within Europe, Russia, the Middle East and
North Africa.

I remember when in flight entertainment was a movie,
projected onto a drop-down screen on the bulkhead at the front of each
cabin section. If you were a shorter person, or a tall person blocked
your view, that was just too bad. You'd see a different movie on your
return trip, but if you flew frequently, you'd see the same movies
repeatedly until the next cycle.

The next generation of IFE was when movies were
shown on TV screens which were mounted to the roof of the cabin. This
posed a problem if your seat was only a row from the TV, as you'd be
forced to look almost straight up, leaving neck comfort out of the
equation. Your only other option was to squint and try to watch the
monitor 8 or so rows in front of you. Some airlines still have these
systems today on older planes, or as a cheaper alternative to seat back
video systems.

Generation 3 was the best generation yet, from a
passenger perspective. LCD screens in the seat back in front of you. A
screen for every passenger! This generation has evolved over the years,
as airlines have added multiple entertainment options including TV
shows, music channels, shopping and interactive games. There's even a dating app trying to make its way on board planes.

Andriod-based embedded IFE system on American Airlines' 777-300ER

Seat back IFE systems do have their down side. They
add a lot of weight to the aircraft, and as we know, added weight means
extra fuel has to be burned, raising the operating cost of the flight.
They also cost a lot to maintain. A broken IFE unit means the aircraft
has to be pulled out of service, which inconveniences customers and
causes a loss of revenue for the airline. Content licensing for the
movies and TV programs shown on planes is its own huge industry, as I
witnessed last fall at the Airline Passenger Experience Expo in Anaheim,
California.

On concerns that some travelers would be left
without entertainment options, Lufthansa Chief Commercial Officer Jens
Bischoff said "Everybody travels with a tablet or smart phone these
days." Lufthansa has selected an in-house solution for its
wireless IFE system, called BoardConnect. It was developed by Lufthansa
Systems.

Lufthansa rival Qatar Airways has decided against
using a wireless IFE solution at this time. Qatar CEO Akbar Al Baker had this to say
about Wireless IFE:

"The system is still in its
infancy and we would not like to introduce something that is not
properly tested. Imagine in an airplane you have 200 passengers all
switching on tablets. What interference that would provide to aircraft
communications is still not proven."

Mary Kirby, IFE expert and founder of the Runway
Girl Network said,

"Early window content is crucial to airlines like
Qatar Airways. They and others have massive libraries. Hollywood is
underpinning the business model of embedded IFE."

When I spoke to Kirby about the potential for wireless IFE on
long-haul flights, she said

"Embedded IFE screens have become a comfort
factor, where passengers want to lay back and not have to think about
it. Airbus doesn't even allow you to order an A350 without embedded IFE
screens. Airlines literally pick a box when they order IFE. It's like
buying a car without a radio, you just don't do it."

Gogo, the most popular in-flight internet provider,
unveiled a new product last fall called GTO (Ground to Orbit) which they
claim will feed data at up to 70MBPS. GTO is still in testing, so it
remains to be seen whether it will be able to stream video on demand
from a source like Netflix at a high uptake rate.

In regards to the future of seat back IFE, Kirby
said:

"Airlines know they have to throw a ton of capacity at passengers.
Once they reach the capability of meeting streaming demand, we might
start to see embedded IFE go away. People have predicted the death of
embedded IFE for years and we're just not seeing that."

Source: Airwise

Images: Flickr, Paul Thompson