Katie_H

Just curious... on my recent flight out and back to California the individual entertainment systems were not working. This occurred on my last flight too... just curious if you've found this to be the case often on your flights. It's not a huge deal, but I just found it odd that it didn't work either way...I felt bad for all of the parents on the flight with kids who would surely have liked to settle in with a good movie or tv show.

filmwill

Katie, I think it's just a combination of bad luck and that you're dealing with an incredibly intricate and fragile system.

What's interesting is that Virgin America has an "IT" specialist on all their flights to make sure that all systems are functioning properly and is able to fix any one that might have a bug.

I'd say why don't more US carriers follow their lead, but, then again, we're entering an atmosphere where carriers are about to start charging us to use the bathroom on a flight.

JamesA

I agree. If you anywhere from 150 to 400 screens then unfortunately it's the luck if you get a seat where it doesn't work, or as sometimes happens, the 'whole system' is down.

I guess if you think about an office enviroment ( anything like ours anywhere ! ) even with 25 or so PC's plus printers, copiers etc etc the tech staff are kept 'busy' ( I don't know about others my tech staff always seem to be adjusting something, fixing something else ), so when you have then on a plane it's just not an easy fix.

Always take a couple of good books along in case !

Katie_H

True, true. I just thought it was strange (the whole system was down). Not a terrible problem for me as I do usually splurge on magazines I would never buy in my everyday life (plus I always have a good book handy.)

Seamus

Planes only produce revenue when they are flying. All it takes is one bad fuse to scotch the system, and if the replacement is not and there's no way they will hold the flight until it can be located. And though most equipment is modularized so that it can be removed and replaced fairly easily, if the problem was one that requires some more extensive pulling apart and reassembly then it's a good thing you have your reading material. Friends in the FA biz have told me that despite the fact that passengers have come to expect IFE it is considered a nonessential amenity that would never be the reason to delay a flight.
Sounds like you just had bad plane karma to hit it both directions - I wonder if it was the same plane that just hadn't been fixed yet, or repaired but broke again?

flanneruk

I recently took a BA transatlantic flight where the onboard IT team had to stop the system and reboot twice in each direction - which miffed the poor sods who saw the first hour of their chosen film three times.

Personally, I can't wait for some entrepreneur to set up a company that uses the money wasted on these gewgaws for the illiterate (apart from the technology, its maintenance and the royalties on Exterminator 97, how much do these tracksuited geeks cost?) to bring long-haul fares down. Or rechannels it into useful amenities, like more, better booze.

Ryanair would be hiring out DVD players, making the people who really want this junk pay for it, rather than being subsidised by the rest of us.

Katie_H

I'm guessing it was the same plane--seemed like it anyway. Thanks for the explanation.

Flanner-- not a bad idea.

rkkwan

Katie - What airline and what route did you fly?

Katie_H

Delta-- JFK to LAX...

Patty

If you email DL, they may give you a voucher or some miles.

Katie_H

Really? Just for that?

Patty

No guarantees but worth a try since you had problems both directions. You may get a token goodwill gesture (don't expect a lot) or just a canned apology