Comments on: Ask Cranky: When Will Continental Airplanes Have LiveTV Installed?

By: FAA test

FAA test — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:57:06 +0000

I do think that the other major airlines will need to follow Continental’s lead to stay competitive and offer those types of services.

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 22:32:14 +0000

Continental’s system will be a mix of both live tv and stored content. If you don’t want to watch live tv, you will have to option to watch VOD programming.

By: Wandering Aramean

Wandering Aramean — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:27:58 +0000

They have to certify each of the four types of aircraft that are getting the systems. Right now it is a 739 (not sure if it is ER or not or even if that is considered a separate type) in Orlando getting fitted so those are going to be converted first once approved. I’d also expect that they will pull a 73G and a 738 out of the rotation sooner than not as there is a 30-day waiting period with the FAA once they are actually fitted out.

And, yes, they expect to have the 280ish planes all fit out in ~14 months, so possible more like 20 planes per month once they get moving on the conversions.

As for the value of AVOD versus LiveTV, I agree that AVOD is my preference, but I also understand shifting the cost burden to LiveTV under this deal’s structure to provide the benefit to the customers without the cash outlay or risks.

By: Insider Knowledge

Insider Knowledge — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:16:11 +0000

Yes I am aware of that. But after the contracts were done, there were talks already that they were getting certifications and approvals from the FAA to begin installs due to the LIVE date of Jan 2009. I had assumed all the testing and installation was done by this time bc a former co-worker said CO was rolling out 8 planes in early Jan 09 with the system reading to go. So this is all news to me.

By: CF

CF — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:38:20 +0000

Insider Knowledge – I have heard that the Red system can be buggy on Virgin America, but I didn’t have a problem. The only problem I had was that I was on the dark plane which didn’t have any inflight entertainment. That plane has since been fixed.

As for CO, you can’t do a lot of the testing until it’s actually installed on the aircraft and running. So that’s what they’ve been working on now.

By: Insider Knowledge

Insider Knowledge — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:00:16 +0000

CORRECTION
****sorry a plane WITHOUT the system**

By: Insider Knowledge

Insider Knowledge — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:58:35 +0000

The Virgin VOD system isn’t fool proof. I hear about it not working like it should many times. Cranky even mentioned it once in a trip report if I recall. Kind of sucks when it’s a long haul and you got nothing to do. My insider at LiveTV told me that Continental was rolling out 8 planes with the new system January 5th if I recall. Gotta check my email to verify. So I got excited when I was gonna fly a 757 home in early Feb. Turns out it was a plane with the system. Then I read this and find out no planes in service have the system. Boooo….. I thought all that test and certification was done all of last year after they signed the contract back in April I think?

By: Kathy

Kathy — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:26:27 +0000

I flew LAX to LHR and return on Virgin recently, and had VOD outbound. It was nice. On return, it wasn’t on demand. You had to wait for the next movie cycle to start, which was kind of a pain. I agree with Joe. I can’t remember the last time I watched a TV show ‘live’ instead of TiVo’ed. I’d probably find the commercials annoying.

I’d much rather have ubiquitous power ports to handle recharging my iPod Touch on long flights. Then I’d just watch my own content. The problem with my iPod with video, is that the battery only lasts for about 1 and 1/2 movies.

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:34:30 +0000

I so not understand why folks are not going with a VOD system like virgin. I much prefer watching an on demand movie than whatever is on tv. Maybe I am spoiled by my dvr, but I can barely tolerate commercials. The jet blue movies are annoying in that you cant watch them on demand, and also the choice of them tends to really suck.

By: Avi

Avi — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:11:13 +0000

The VOD system CO is using is great… as long as you don’t fly them too often. Just going to/from Europe once was enough to watch all the content on the system I was interested in. This isn’t intended as a complaint (seriously, free movies, TV, games on demand is wonderful!) but as a way of highlighting why live TV is, in some ways, better – the content is constantly changing.