AA choses Thales for new IFE

https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/worldwid ... 9-aircraft

Looks like that will give each legacy carrieir their own unique solution for unique branding. DL is using their own in-house system, UA is teaming with Panasonic, and it looks like AA will go with Thales. Let's just hope AA expands it to their domestic fleet.

Nice to see bluetooth !

I'm surprised AA didn't cheap out on the XLR and go the 757/767 route. Excited to try out the XLRs now!

I won't be shocked for AA to reverse course in it's domestic fleet in a few years with this or a similar product at that time. (I don't expect it until after the XLR is in service.)

Technology and competition have changed since AA made the decision to remove/not have seat back IFE.

Nice to see USB-C making it to aircraft.

sagechan wrote:

I won't be shocked for AA to reverse course in it's domestic fleet in a few years with this or a similar product at that time. (I don't expect it until after the XLR is in service.)

Technology and competition have changed since AA made the decision to remove/not have seat back IFE.

Most European carriers don't have IFE either. Not to say AA should follow them. Full service airlines should have IFEs.

PHLspecial wrote:

sagechan wrote:

I won't be shocked for AA to reverse course in it's domestic fleet in a few years with this or a similar product at that time. (I don't expect it until after the XLR is in service.)

Technology and competition have changed since AA made the decision to remove/not have seat back IFE.

Most European carriers don't have IFE either. Not to say AA should follow them. Full service airlines should have IFEs.

The market in Europe is vastly different though. You hardly ever fly more than 1:30h frequently. If you are living in France, Germany, Eastern Spain, Northern Italy, South England you are so dead center, that there are almost no flights longer than 2h. Block time might be 2-2.5h but effectively in the air you are way less. For a while I had to fly very frequently ZRH-DUB and ZRH-EDI and they block over 2h but flight time was mostly around 1:45h. And this were my longest flights that I had to do regularly outside of holidays. On all the others, to FRA, HAM, LCY, LHR, CDG, FCO, etc. IFE is just unnecessary because you cant even watch a movie, hardly a full episode of a 40min show, because even if the IFE is on before take off, there are so many announcements and interruptions during taxi and take-off, descending that it just is not worth it to install IFE.

AS far as the 787-9, are these new planes or replacing the existing IFE system in the current fleet.

jfk777 wrote:

AS far as the 787-9, are these new planes or replacing the existing IFE system in the current fleet.

Think it’s the new fleet coming in.

Just went to check AAs fleet plans. They’ll have about 90 787s by the time they take all of them.

Are they done with the replacement of the 77Es?

FluidFlow wrote:

PHLspecial wrote:

sagechan wrote:

I won't be shocked for AA to reverse course in it's domestic fleet in a few years with this or a similar product at that time. (I don't expect it until after the XLR is in service.)

Technology and competition have changed since AA made the decision to remove/not have seat back IFE.

Most European carriers don't have IFE either. Not to say AA should follow them. Full service airlines should have IFEs.

The market in Europe is vastly different though. You hardly ever fly more than 1:30h frequently. If you are living in France, Germany, Eastern Spain, Northern Italy, South England you are so dead center, that there are almost no flights longer than 2h. Block time might be 2-2.5h but effectively in the air you are way less. For a while I had to fly very frequently ZRH-DUB and ZRH-EDI and they block over 2h but flight time was mostly around 1:45h. And this were my longest flights that I had to do regularly outside of holidays. On all the others, to FRA, HAM, LCY, LHR, CDG, FCO, etc. IFE is just unnecessary because you cant even watch a movie, hardly a full episode of a 40min show, because even if the IFE is on before take off, there are so many announcements and interruptions during taxi and take-off, descending that it just is not worth it to install IFE.

very good point

Surprised no mention of B788. AA still have a bunch of B788 on order.

It is going to be such a mess like the onboard Internet. AA will have two different systems running for a while to come. Product consistency is not the new AA's game.

chonetsao wrote:

Surprised no mention of B788. AA still have a bunch of B788 on order.

It is going to be such a mess like the onboard Internet. AA will have two different systems running for a while to come. Product consistency is not the new AA's game.

Announcement is for new deliveries a few years away, most of ,AAs remaining 788s are waiting for the delivery block to end.

Opus99 wrote:

jfk777 wrote:

AS far as the 787-9, are these new planes or replacing the existing IFE system in the current fleet.

Think it’s the new fleet coming in.

Just went to check AAs fleet plans. They’ll have about 90 787s by the time they take all of them.

Are they done with the replacement of the 77Es?

AA hasn’t announced any plans to retire any 777s

Boof02671 wrote:

Opus99 wrote:

jfk777 wrote:

AS far as the 787-9, are these new planes or replacing the existing IFE system in the current fleet.

Think it’s the new fleet coming in.

Just went to check AAs fleet plans. They’ll have about 90 787s by the time they take all of them.

Are they done with the replacement of the 77Es?

AA hasn’t announced any plans to retire any 777s

Oh right. Thanks

chonetsao wrote:

Surprised no mention of B788. AA still have a bunch of B788 on order.

It is going to be such a mess like the onboard Internet. AA will have two different systems running for a while to come. Product consistency is not the new AA's game.

Does any US airline have consistent product across their IFE systems?
United doesn’t
Delta doesn’t. Their 738 IFE looks like a 90s gameboy system.

Even JetBlue has their old IFE vs their new IFE.

chonetsao wrote:

Surprised no mention of B788. AA still have a bunch of B788 on order.

It is going to be such a mess like the onboard Internet. AA will have two different systems running for a while to come. Product consistency is not the new AA's game.

Obviously you've never flown United, Delta or Jetblue.

I quite like the UX present on AA's current Thales system that is/was present on their narrowbody fleet. The new Optiq display with the Samsung QLED looks quite nice IMO.

I too wouldn't be surprised to see AA reverse course and install this software to their 737/A321 domestic fleet.

MIflyer12 wrote:

That AA is even committing to AVOD on the XLRs is a surprise. After all, once you've rationalized that passengers don't need AVOD on six-hour flights it's a short step to declaring they don't need it on eight-hour flights, either.

While I don't disagree with you, I think the competitive nature of the transatlantic market makes removing AVOD on said routes a bit more difficult. When AA announced the Oasis project, UA was on their way to removing IFE domestically, AS lacked it, WN lacked it, and ULCCs lacked it, so it was easy to make the case that AVOD was not necessary domestically.

Every carrier today (AFAIK) operating over the Atlantic offers AVOD. I recall one of the major issues AA faced when flying the 763s/752s over the Atlantic was that they lacked AVOD and were simply not competitive, hence their move to markets where product did not matter.

dfwfanboy wrote:

chonetsao wrote:

Surprised no mention of B788. AA still have a bunch of B788 on order.

It is going to be such a mess like the onboard Internet. AA will have two different systems running for a while to come. Product consistency is not the new AA's game.

Does any US airline have consistent product across their IFE systems?
United doesn’t
Delta doesn’t. Their 738 IFE looks like a 90s gameboy system.

Even JetBlue has their old IFE vs their new IFE.

I think the question is any US3 has consistent IFE across its long haul fleet. The original post you referred to is about B788/789/A321XLR which would be for long haul. Nothing to do with short medium haul B738.

dfwfanboy wrote:

chonetsao wrote:

Surprised no mention of B788. AA still have a bunch of B788 on order.

It is going to be such a mess like the onboard Internet. AA will have two different systems running for a while to come. Product consistency is not the new AA's game.

Does any US airline have consistent product across their IFE systems?
United doesn’t
Delta doesn’t. Their 738 IFE looks like a 90s gameboy system.

Even JetBlue has their old IFE vs their new IFE.

UA has 856 mainline planes.
DL has 839 mainline planes.
AA has 863 mainline planes.

You cannot retrofit 800+ airplane IFEs in a year or so; IFE evolves very quickly, when you're done with the whole fleet, it's time for the oldest to be retrofitted already.

US airlines work by fleet or sub-fleet; and tends to fine-tune those to the market they cater to. It's no wonder there are some inconsistencies among fleets.

WayexTDI wrote:

dfwfanboy wrote:

chonetsao wrote:

Surprised no mention of B788. AA still have a bunch of B788 on order.

It is going to be such a mess like the onboard Internet. AA will have two different systems running for a while to come. Product consistency is not the new AA's game.

Does any US airline have consistent product across their IFE systems?
United doesn’t
Delta doesn’t. Their 738 IFE looks like a 90s gameboy system.

Even JetBlue has their old IFE vs their new IFE.

UA has 856 mainline planes.
DL has 839 mainline planes.
AA has 863 mainline planes.

You cannot retrofit 800+ airplane IFEs in a year or so; IFE evolves very quickly, when you're done with the whole fleet, it's time for the oldest to be retrofitted already.

US airlines work by fleet or sub-fleet; and tends to fine-tune those to the market they cater to. It's no wonder there are some inconsistencies among fleets.

That was my point. No one is consistent.

chonetsao wrote:

dfwfanboy wrote:

chonetsao wrote:

Surprised no mention of B788. AA still have a bunch of B788 on order.

It is going to be such a mess like the onboard Internet. AA will have two different systems running for a while to come. Product consistency is not the new AA's game.

Does any US airline have consistent product across their IFE systems?
United doesn’t
Delta doesn’t. Their 738 IFE looks like a 90s gameboy system.

Even JetBlue has their old IFE vs their new IFE.

I think the question is any US3 has consistent IFE across its long haul fleet. The original post you referred to is about B788/789/A321XLR which would be for long haul. Nothing to do with short medium haul B738.

The answer to that question is also that no carrier is consistent.

Emirates has nothing on this

MIflyer12 wrote:

chonetsao wrote:

Surprised no mention of B788. AA still have a bunch of B788 on order.

It is going to be such a mess like the onboard Internet. AA will have two different systems running for a while to come. Product consistency is not the new AA's game.

That AA is even committing to AVOD on the XLRs is a surprise. After all, once you've rationalized that passengers don't need AVOD on six-hour flights it's a short step to declaring they don't need it on eight-hour flights, either.

I think it's more about the market than the length of flight, which is why the 321T did not have IFE ripped out.

And in true American Airlines fashion, absolutely no media announcement from them AA itself. This is from Thales only. Usually, companies do a joint press release. They never did one either about the upgraded Block 2 787 IFE. Never seen a company so loathe to promote what it's doing!

dfwfanboy wrote:

WayexTDI wrote:

dfwfanboy wrote:

Does any US airline have consistent product across their IFE systems?
United doesn’t
Delta doesn’t. Their 738 IFE looks like a 90s gameboy system.

Even JetBlue has their old IFE vs their new IFE.

UA has 856 mainline planes.
DL has 839 mainline planes.
AA has 863 mainline planes.

You cannot retrofit 800+ airplane IFEs in a year or so; IFE evolves very quickly, when you're done with the whole fleet, it's time for the oldest to be retrofitted already.

US airlines work by fleet or sub-fleet; and tends to fine-tune those to the market they cater to. It's no wonder there are some inconsistencies among fleets.

That was my point. No one is consistent.

But it's not due to lack of trying: it's just impossible to do.
Saying that the IFE product/offering within a given US airline is inconsistent without giving a reason why is akin to say they don't care about consistency: most do (DL for example), but can only do so much at a time. There is a reason why this inconsistency exist.

rising wrote:

And in true American Airlines fashion, absolutely no media announcement from them AA itself. This is from Thales only. Usually, companies do a joint press release. They never did one either about the upgraded Block 2 787 IFE. Never seen a company so loathe to promote what it's doing!

I’m guessing it could draw too much attention to the lack of IFE elsewhere in their fleet and would potentially backfire. But, that’s just a guess. Maybe they are saving the announcement for a full fleet IFE transformation like what United did…not holding my breath though.

WayexTDI wrote:

dfwfanboy wrote:

WayexTDI wrote:

UA has 856 mainline planes.
DL has 839 mainline planes.
AA has 863 mainline planes.

You cannot retrofit 800+ airplane IFEs in a year or so; IFE evolves very quickly, when you're done with the whole fleet, it's time for the oldest to be retrofitted already.

US airlines work by fleet or sub-fleet; and tends to fine-tune those to the market they cater to. It's no wonder there are some inconsistencies among fleets.

That was my point. No one is consistent.

But it's not due to lack of trying: it's just impossible to do.
Saying that the IFE product/offering within a given US airline is inconsistent without giving a reason why is akin to say they don't care about consistency: most do (DL for example), but can only do so much at a time. There is a reason why this inconsistency exist.

And? You seem to be trying to start a debate where you’re the only one on all sides of the argument.
No one is disputing why it’s tough and no US carrier is consistent in their narrow body or wide body fleet. Simply mentioning that no one is consistent. I obviously agree, no carrier is going to pull 800+ Planes out of the air for two weeks just to have a consistent IFE experience.

And it’s not correct to suggest delta cares about a consistent IFE product. They seem to care about consistently having IFE (though we could have a fun chat about that since they consistently put a narrow body and regional jet on the same routes all the time and with the same stage length out of ATL, one has IFE, the other doesn’t; and the MD90s had no IFE but only left the fleet as quickly as they did due to covid), but they’ve never shown any desire to go replace perfectly good IFE systems simply because the a220 or a350 have a better IFE.
AA isn’t consistent on its long haul planes with IFE type but has it across those long haul planes.
Delta is consistent about having IFE on delta metal planes, but not regional, but isn’t consistent about the type of IFE. Seems like that will change over the long term since they make their own IFE systems now but there don’t seem to be any announced plans to that end.
United wants to be and plans to eventually be consistent on United metal planes, but not regional, but isn’t consistent about the IFE type or even having it currently on their own metal.

IFE=PTV for this context.

AAtakeMeAway wrote:

MIflyer12 wrote:

chonetsao wrote:

Surprised no mention of B788. AA still have a bunch of B788 on order.

It is going to be such a mess like the onboard Internet. AA will have two different systems running for a while to come. Product consistency is not the new AA's game.

That AA is even committing to AVOD on the XLRs is a surprise. After all, once you've rationalized that passengers don't need AVOD on six-hour flights it's a short step to declaring they don't need it on eight-hour flights, either.

I think it's more about the market than the length of flight, which is why the 321T did not have IFE ripped out.

Why would it be ripped out?
They were ordered as a special premium product airplane.

And IFE was installed prior to delivery.

Boof02671 wrote:

AAtakeMeAway wrote:

MIflyer12 wrote:

That AA is even committing to AVOD on the XLRs is a surprise. After all, once you've rationalized that passengers don't need AVOD on six-hour flights it's a short step to declaring they don't need it on eight-hour flights, either.

I think it's more about the market than the length of flight, which is why the 321T did not have IFE ripped out.

Why would it be ripped out?
They were ordered as a special premium product airplane.

And IFE was installed prior to delivery.

Yes Boof, we're essentially making the same point.

Boof02671 wrote:

AAtakeMeAway wrote:

MIflyer12 wrote:

That AA is even committing to AVOD on the XLRs is a surprise. After all, once you've rationalized that passengers don't need AVOD on six-hour flights it's a short step to declaring they don't need it on eight-hour flights, either.

I think it's more about the market than the length of flight, which is why the 321T did not have IFE ripped out.

Why would it be ripped out?
They were ordered as a special premium product airplane.

And IFE was installed prior to delivery.

I know quite is after the A321T was delivered but "No one uses the IFE" - From AA
Yes people don't use IFE according to AA.

JoseSalazar wrote:

rising wrote:

And in true American Airlines fashion, absolutely no media announcement from them AA itself. This is from Thales only. Usually, companies do a joint press release. They never did one either about the upgraded Block 2 787 IFE. Never seen a company so loathe to promote what it's doing!

I’m guessing it could draw too much attention to the lack of IFE elsewhere in their fleet and would potentially backfire. But, that’s just a guess. Maybe they are saving the announcement for a full fleet IFE transformation like what United did…not holding my breath though.

Took the words out of my mouth. Why promote something that some people might feel they should have across the entire fleet already.

USAirALB wrote:

I quite like the UX present on AA's current Thales system that is/was present on their narrowbody fleet. The new Optiq display with the Samsung QLED looks quite nice IMO.

I too wouldn't be surprised to see AA reverse course and install this software to their 737/A321 domestic fleet.

MIflyer12 wrote:

That AA is even committing to AVOD on the XLRs is a surprise. After all, once you've rationalized that passengers don't need AVOD on six-hour flights it's a short step to declaring they don't need it on eight-hour flights, either.

While I don't disagree with you, I think the competitive nature of the transatlantic market makes removing AVOD on said routes a bit more difficult. When AA announced the Oasis project, UA was on their way to removing IFE domestically, AS lacked it, WN lacked it, and ULCCs lacked it, so it was easy to make the case that AVOD was not necessary domestically.

Every carrier today (AFAIK) operating over the Atlantic offers AVOD. I recall one of the major issues AA faced when flying the 763s/752s over the Atlantic was that they lacked AVOD and were simply not competitive, hence their move to markets where product did not matter.

Doesn't AA also have to meet minimum service requirements for its transatlantic joint venture? I know this includes lie-flat seats. Does this include IFE as well?

dfwfanboy wrote:

WayexTDI wrote:

dfwfanboy wrote:

Does any US airline have consistent product across their IFE systems?
United doesn’t
Delta doesn’t. Their 738 IFE looks like a 90s gameboy system.

Even JetBlue has their old IFE vs their new IFE.

UA has 856 mainline planes.
DL has 839 mainline planes.
AA has 863 mainline planes.

You cannot retrofit 800+ airplane IFEs in a year or so; IFE evolves very quickly, when you're done with the whole fleet, it's time for the oldest to be retrofitted already.

US airlines work by fleet or sub-fleet; and tends to fine-tune those to the market they cater to. It's no wonder there are some inconsistencies among fleets.

That was my point. No one is consistent.

Some are far more consistent than others. Pedantry really isn't needed.

BoeingG wrote:

dfwfanboy wrote:

WayexTDI wrote:

UA has 856 mainline planes.
DL has 839 mainline planes.
AA has 863 mainline planes.

You cannot retrofit 800+ airplane IFEs in a year or so; IFE evolves very quickly, when you're done with the whole fleet, it's time for the oldest to be retrofitted already.

US airlines work by fleet or sub-fleet; and tends to fine-tune those to the market they cater to. It's no wonder there are some inconsistencies among fleets.

That was my point. No one is consistent.

Some are far more consistent than others. Pedantry really isn't needed.

Neither is overgeneralization to paint a picture of lollipops and rainbows at dear darlin’ Delta in each thread.

As someone who has flown more miles than I care to admit on Delta, their product runs the gamut. Delta may put greater emphasis (right now) on IFE but one flight on their 737 with its antiquated system proved to me long ego that when it comes to the IFE product cycle, it will never be “done.”

Josh76040 wrote:

BoeingG wrote:

dfwfanboy wrote:

That was my point. No one is consistent.

Some are far more consistent than others. Pedantry really isn't needed.

Neither is overgeneralization to paint a picture of lollipops and rainbows at dear darlin’ Delta in each thread.

As someone who has flown more miles than I care to admit on Delta, their product runs the gamut. Delta may put greater emphasis (right now) on IFE but one flight on their 737 with its antiquated system proved to me long ego that when it comes to the IFE product cycle, it will never be “done.”

Fortunately, that wasn't my intention, nor was that even insinuated. Curious as to where you got that idea from.

United evidently knows where it screwed up!

Josh76040 wrote:

BoeingG wrote:

dfwfanboy wrote:

That was my point. No one is consistent.

Some are far more consistent than others. Pedantry really isn't needed.

Neither is overgeneralization to paint a picture of lollipops and rainbows at dear darlin’ Delta in each thread.

As someone who has flown more miles than I care to admit on Delta, their product runs the gamut. Delta may put greater emphasis (right now) on IFE but one flight on their 737 with its antiquated system proved to me long ego that when it comes to the IFE product cycle, it will never be “done.”

DL appear to be switching mainly to in-house products (versus the established players such as Thales); they will most likely get better customer service from their supplier this way.

WayexTDI wrote:

Josh76040 wrote:

BoeingG wrote:

Some are far more consistent than others. Pedantry really isn't needed.

Neither is overgeneralization to paint a picture of lollipops and rainbows at dear darlin’ Delta in each thread.

As someone who has flown more miles than I care to admit on Delta, their product runs the gamut. Delta may put greater emphasis (right now) on IFE but one flight on their 737 with its antiquated system proved to me long ego that when it comes to the IFE product cycle, it will never be “done.”

DL appear to be switching mainly to in-house products (versus the established players such as Thales); they will most likely get better customer service from their supplier this way.

How's the 717 Personal TV retrofit going? Delta isn't consistent about even having personal TVs on their own planes.

Will the A321XLR replace the A321T and then those A321 will be converted to Domestic aircraft after that?

dfwfanboy wrote:

WayexTDI wrote:

Josh76040 wrote:

Neither is overgeneralization to paint a picture of lollipops and rainbows at dear darlin’ Delta in each thread.

As someone who has flown more miles than I care to admit on Delta, their product runs the gamut. Delta may put greater emphasis (right now) on IFE but one flight on their 737 with its antiquated system proved to me long ego that when it comes to the IFE product cycle, it will never be “done.”

DL appear to be switching mainly to in-house products (versus the established players such as Thales); they will most likely get better customer service from their supplier this way.

How's the 717 Personal TV retrofit going? Delta isn't consistent about even having personal TVs on their own planes.

How long is the 717 supposed to stay in DL fleet? Within the next 3 years? DL won't retrofit them.
Do the 717 missions really warrant having a personal TV?

WayexTDI wrote:

dfwfanboy wrote:

WayexTDI wrote:

DL appear to be switching mainly to in-house products (versus the established players such as Thales); they will most likely get better customer service from their supplier this way.

How's the 717 Personal TV retrofit going? Delta isn't consistent about even having personal TVs on their own planes.

How long is the 717 supposed to stay in DL fleet? Within the next 3 years? DL won't retrofit them.
Do the 717 missions really warrant having a personal TV?

That is the question no one truly has a definite answer on. To be fair though, they've got widebody jets flying shorter legs than the 717 does.

dfwfanboy wrote:

chonetsao wrote:

Surprised no mention of B788. AA still have a bunch of B788 on order.

It is going to be such a mess like the onboard Internet. AA will have two different systems running for a while to come. Product consistency is not the new AA's game.

Does any US airline have consistent product across their IFE systems?
United doesn’t
Delta doesn’t. Their 738 IFE looks like a 90s gameboy system.

Even JetBlue has their old IFE vs their new IFE.

Some DL 738s have old AVOD. Most have updated variants of in-seat AVOD. UAL is even choosing to bring back in-seat AVOD as evident on the MAX and keeping around DTV.

Big question is if AA will keep in-seat AVOD around on the 321 and 738. It's a very nice system.

N649DL wrote:

dfwfanboy wrote:

chonetsao wrote:

Surprised no mention of B788. AA still have a bunch of B788 on order.

It is going to be such a mess like the onboard Internet. AA will have two different systems running for a while to come. Product consistency is not the new AA's game.

Does any US airline have consistent product across their IFE systems?
United doesn’t
Delta doesn’t. Their 738 IFE looks like a 90s gameboy system.

Even JetBlue has their old IFE vs their new IFE.

Some DL 738s have old AVOD. Most have updated variants of in-seat AVOD. UAL is even choosing to bring back in-seat AVOD as evident on the MAX and keeping around DTV.

Big question is if AA will keep in-seat AVOD around on the 321 and 738. It's a very nice system.

AA will keep the PTVs on the A321T and LAA 319s also new XLRs get PTVs the rest will get yanked if they haven't already

AirDO wrote:

Will the A321XLR replace the A321T and then those A321 will be converted to Domestic aircraft after that?

No, the A321XLR have tremendous range that simply isn't required for the JFK-LAX/SFO routes that the A321T flies.

N62NA wrote:

AirDO wrote:

Will the A321XLR replace the A321T and then those A321 will be converted to Domestic aircraft after that?

No, the A321XLR have tremendous range that simply isn't required for the JFK-LAX/SFO routes that the A321T flies.

Do you know if the A321T frames have this same ACT configuration as the rest of the CEOs? The A321T with 90 less seats, passengers, and luggage wouldn't seem to need the extra fuel although it nor does it need extra cargo space. My assumption is it has the same 2 ACT setup just for commonality sake and I wonder what the true range of this aircraft is.

N62NA wrote:

AirDO wrote:

Will the A321XLR replace the A321T and then those A321 will be converted to Domestic aircraft after that?

No, the A321XLR have tremendous range that simply isn't required for the JFK-LAX/SFO routes that the A321T flies.

...you mean like all the 777s that also fly/flew those routes, and the 757/767/DC10s before them?

chonetsao wrote:

Surprised no mention of B788. AA still have a bunch of B788 on order.

It is going to be such a mess like the onboard Internet. AA will have two different systems running for a while to come. Product consistency is not the new AA's game.

Whilst I get your point, that's a little unfair, and, frankly, consistent IFE across the whole fleet for an airline as large as the US3 is not realistic expectation. The technology in this area is moving so rapidly - USB-C, bigger, brighter OLED screens, bluetooth, streaming - and aircraft replacement cycles are longer than the rate at which new technology is becoming available. When it comes to IFE, an airline can't pin its future on just one technology mast, as it were. AA learned that the hard way with the domestic fleet and streaming.

We have to accept that with airlines and IFE, it's going to be a perpetually moving feast, as the tech changes and improves. Particularly in Covid times, when capital for investment is scarce, airlines are not going to rip out perfectly good systems in an existing fleet just because a newer system came along.

WayexTDI wrote:

dfwfanboy wrote:

WayexTDI wrote:

DL appear to be switching mainly to in-house products (versus the established players such as Thales); they will most likely get better customer service from their supplier this way.

How's the 717 Personal TV retrofit going? Delta isn't consistent about even having personal TVs on their own planes.

How long is the 717 supposed to stay in DL fleet? Within the next 3 years? DL won't retrofit them.
Do the 717 missions really warrant having a personal TV?

Not suggesting it does or does not. The question raised was regarding IFE consistency on aircraft, narrow body or wide body.

vhtje wrote:

chonetsao wrote:

Surprised no mention of B788. AA still have a bunch of B788 on order.

It is going to be such a mess like the onboard Internet. AA will have two different systems running for a while to come. Product consistency is not the new AA's game.

Whilst I get your point, that's a little unfair, and, frankly, consistent IFE across the whole fleet for an airline as large as the US3 is not realistic expectation. The technology in this area is moving so rapidly - USB-C, bigger, brighter OLED screens, bluetooth, streaming - and aircraft replacement cycles are longer than the rate at which new technology is becoming available. When it comes to IFE, an airline can't pin its future on just one technology mast, as it were. AA learned that the hard way with the domestic fleet and streaming.

We have to accept that with airlines and IFE, it's going to be a perpetually moving feast, as the tech changes and improves. Particularly in Covid times, when capital for investment is scarce, airlines are not going to rip out perfectly good systems in an existing fleet just because a newer system came along.

This is an excellent point, and I see it as comparable to the entertainment systems in cars, very rarely are people actually replacing those systems. Between compatibility issues, power and space constraints, and a variety of other issues, sometimes it just makes sense to work with what you have and then get a new car with a new then-current system at the end of the car's lifespan.