In-flight entertainment
In-flight entertainment refers to audio-visual equipment available to aircraft passengers during a flight. Frequently managed by content service providers, the types of in-flight entertainment devices and their content vary significantly based on the airline, aircraft type, and geographic region. In addition to entertainment content, these systems may offer various value-added services and informational functions, such as flight connection details, meal ordering, shopping, services options, and the presentation of safety videos, etc.
During the early years of air travel in the 1920s, in-flight entertainment took the form of movies that were initially shown on a large screen. With advancements in digital technology over the decades, personal IFE display screens became prevalent during the 1990s, when demand for better IFE became a major factor in the design of aircraft cabins.
The advent of small entertainment and communication devices also allows passengers to use their own portable devices, subject to regulations to prevent them interfering with aircraft equipment, an increasing number of economy cabins, particularly on budget airlines, have upgraded to In-flight Entertainment and Connectivity system. High-speed internet is gradually becoming available on aircraft, providing passengers with a more complete in-flight experience.
Design issues for IFE include system safety, cost efficiency, software reliability, hardware maintenance, and user compatibility.
History
The first in-flight movie was screened by Aeromarine Airways in 1921, showing a film called Howdy Chicago to passengers on a Felixstowe F.5 flying boat as it flew around Chicago.The film The Lost World was shown to passengers of an Imperial Airways flight in April 1925 between London and Paris.
Eleven years later, in 1932, the first in-flight television called 'media event' was shown on a Western Air Express Fokker F.10 aircraft.
In 1936, the airship Hindenburg offered passengers a piano, lounge, dining room, smoking room, and bar during the -day flight between Europe and America.
The post-WWII British Bristol Brabazon airliner was initially specified with a 37-seat cinema within its huge fuselage; this was later reduced to a 23-seat cinema sharing the rear of the aircraft with a lounge and cocktail bar. The aircraft never entered service.
However, it was not until the 1960s that in-flight entertainment became mainstream and popular. In 1961, David Flexer of Inflight Motion Pictures developed the 16mm film system using a 25-inch reel for a wide variety of commercial aircraft. Capable of holding the entire film, and mounted horizontally to maximize space, this replaced the previous 30-inch-diameter film reels. In 1961, TWA committed to Flexer's technology and was the first to debut a feature film in flight. Interviewed by The New Yorker in 1962, Flexer said, "an awful lot of ingenuity has gone into this thing, which started from my simply thinking one day, in flight, that air travel is both the most advanced form of transportation and the most boring." Pakistan International Airlines was the first international airline to introduce this entertainment system, showing regularly scheduled films from 1962.
In 1963, Avid Airline Products developed and manufactured the first pneumatic headset used on board the airlines and provided these early headsets to TWA. These early systems consisted of in-seat audio that could be heard with hollow tube headphones. In 1979, pneumatic headsets were replaced by electronic headsets, which were initially available only on selected flights and premium cabins. Pneumatic headphones continued to be offered on Delta Air Lines flights until 2003, despite the fact that electronic headphone jacks have existed on Delta planes since the adoption of Boeing 767-200 in 1982.
Throughout the early to mid-1960s, some in-flight movies were played back from videotape, using early compact transistorized videotape recorders made by Sony and Ampex, and played back on CRT monitors mounted on the upper sides in the cabin above the passenger seats with several monitors placed a few seats apart from each other. The audio was played back through the headsets.
In 1971, TRANSCOM developed the 8mm film cassette. Flight attendants could now change movies in-flight and add short subject programming.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, CRT-based projectors began to appear on newer widebody aircraft, such as the Boeing 767. These used LaserDiscs or video cassettes for playback. Some airlines upgraded the old film IFE systems to the CRT-based systems in the late 1980s and early 1990s on some of their older widebodies. In 1985, Avicom introduced the first personal audio player system, based on the Philips Tape Cassette technology. In 1988, the Airvision company introduced the first in-seat audio/video on-demand systems using LCD technology for Northwest Airlines. The trials, which were run by Northwest Airlines on its Boeing 747 fleet, received overwhelmingly positive passenger reaction. As a result, this completely replaced the CRT technology.File:Video-System MD-11 Swissair - ETHZ LBS SR04-030222.jpg|thumb|Passenger gambling on the in-flight entertainment system aboard the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 of Swissair airline in 1997
In 1996 and 1997, Swissair and Alitalia introduced the first digital in-flight entertainment systems aboard its aircraft manufactured by US-based company Interactive Flight Technologies, marking a notable development in passenger amenities, that would generate additional revenue for the airline. These systems featured individual touchscreen displays integrated into seat armrests, allowing passengers to access various entertainment including pay-per-view movie library, music, games, and flight details such as a moving map, speed, and altitude. Also, the IFT systems on Swissair offered first ever inflight gambling activities with winnings that could go as high as $3,500.
Today, in-flight entertainment is available on almost all wide body aircraft, and often excluded from narrow body aircraft, largely due to aircraft storage and weight limits. The Boeing 757 was the first narrow body aircraft to widely feature both audio and video in-flight entertainment. Most Boeing 757s feature ceiling-mounted CRT screens, although some newer 757s may feature drop-down LCDs or audio-video on demand systems in the back of each seat. Many Airbus A320 series and Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft are also equipped with drop-down LCD screens. Some airlines, such as WestJet, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines, have equipped some narrow body aircraft with personal video screens at every seat. Others, such as Air Canada and JetBlue, have even equipped some regional jets with VOD.
For the introduction of personal TVs on board jetBlue, company management tracked that lavatory queuing went far down. They originally had two planes, one with functioning IFE and one with none; the functioning one was later called "the happy plane".
System safety and regulation
One major obstacle in creating an in-flight entertainment system is system safety. With the sometimes miles of wiring involved, voltage leaks, arcing and heat become a problem. This is more than a theoretical concern; the IFE system was implicated in the crash of Swissair Flight 111 in 1998. To contain any possible issues, the in-flight entertainment system is typically isolated from the main systems of the aircraft. In the United States, for an aviation product to be considered safe and reliable, it must be certified by the FAA and pass all of the applicable requirements found in the Federal Aviation Regulations. The concerning section, or title, dealing with the aviation industry and the electronic systems embedded in the aircraft, is CFR title 14 part 25. Contained inside Part 25 are rules relating to the aircraft's electronic system.There are two major sections of the FAA's airworthiness regulations that regulate flight entertainment systems and their safety in transport category aircraft: 14 CFR 25.1301 which approves the electronic equipment for installation and use, by assuring that the system in question is properly labeled, and that its design is appropriate to its intended function. 14 CFR 25.1309 states that the electrical equipment must not alter the safety or functionality of the aircraft upon the result of a failure. One way for the intended IFE system to meet this regulatory requirement is for it to be independent from the aircraft's main power source and processor. By separating the power supplies and data links from that of the aircraft's performance processor, in the event of a failure the system is self-contained, and can not alter the functionality of the aircraft. Upon a showing of compliance to all of the applicable U.S. regulations the in-flight entertainment system is capable of being approved in the United States. Certain U.S. design approvals for IFE may be directly accepted in other countries, or may be capable of being validated, under existing bilateral airworthiness safety agreements.
Cost efficiency
The companies involved are in a constant battle to cut costs of production, without cutting the system's quality and compatibility. Cutting production costs may be achieved by anything from altering the housing for personal televisions, to reducing the amount of embedded software in the in-flight entertainment processor. Difficulties with cost are also present with the customers, or airlines, looking to purchase in-flight entertainment systems. Most in-flight entertainment systems are purchased by existing airlines as an upgrade package to an existing fleet of aircraft. This cost can be anywhere from $2 million to $5 million for a plane to be equipped with a set of seat back LCD monitors and an embedded IFE system.Some of the IFE systems are being purchased already installed in a new aircraft, such as the modern Airbus A320, which eliminates the possibility of having upgrade difficulties. Some airlines are passing the cost directly into the customers ticket price, while some are charging a user fee based on an individual customers use. Some are also attempting to get a majority of the cost paid for by advertisements on, around, and in their IFE.
The largest international airlines sometimes pay more than $90,000 for a license to show one movie over a period of two or three months. These airlines usually feature up to 100 movies at once, whereas 20 years ago they would have only 10 or 12. In the United States, airlines pay a flat fee every time the movie is watched by a passenger. Some airlines spend up to $20 million per year on content.