In-flight Entertainment
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In-flight Entertainment (abbreviation IFE) is the entertainment available to aircraft passengers during flight. During the 1990s the demand for better IFE was a major factor in the way airlines fitted their cabins. Before then, the most a passenger could expect was a movie projected on a screen at the front of a cabin, which could be heard via a headphone socket at their seat.
[edit] Overview
Most major airlines have now installed Personal TVs (PTVs) for every passenger on most long-haul routes. These are located in the seat-backs or tucked away in the armrests for front rows seats. Many different systems are used, from just a few channels (like Air Mauritius), AVOD (Audio Visual On Demand like Singapore Airlines), or direct broadcast satellite television (offered by JetBlue, Delta Air Lines, Delta's Former airline Song, WestJet, and Frontier Airlines which shows the TV channels live as they are transmitted from the ground). Some carriers offer video games using the PTV equipment.
Some airlines that offer PTVs across the whole fleet include Cathay Pacific, Virgin Atlantic, Singapore Airlines, and Emirates. Few airlines offer PTVs on short haul/domestic flights (e.g. Air Canada, WestJet, JetBlue and Kingfisher Airlines). Some airlines do not offer PTVs at all (e.g. Icelandair).
Aeroflot, however does offer a portable in flight entertainment system, known as a digPlayer. Alaska Airlines and Qatar Airways also give out DVD players on aircraft built for short haul services like the Airbus A320.
Some airlines offer PTVS only in First and Business Class (e.g. Lufthansa, and Iberia and Philippine Airlines)
Most long haul carries offer PTVs on selected aircraft types and routes (e.g. American Airlines, Thai Airways, British Airways, Kenya Airways, Air Canada, and Air India).
With the introduction of new aircraft and the rapid advances in aviation technology, it is rare to find new long-haul planes being delivered without PTVs. Lufthansa and Philippine Airlines are known as the only airlines in the world to order new long haul aircraft like the Boeing 747 without fitting PTVs in Economy Class, although PAL plans to introduce AVOD in its Business and Economy Classes starting the end of 2007. PAL has PTVs with AVOD on its brand new Airbus narrowbodies.
And an increasing number of short-haul aircraft are being fitted with drop-down LCD screens every few rows because there is some demand for entertainment even on short flight. Some airlines who order short-haul aircraft also have PTVs available at every seat. (e.g. Air Canada's Embraer 175 and 190 fleet feature PTVs at every seat. Kingfisher Airlines of India also features short haul aircraft with PTVs at every seat).
One of the leading authorities on the subject of IFE is Terry Wiseman. He has been involved with the industry for over 20 years. First as an employee of Boeing, then with the largest IFE manufacturer and finally as publisher of Airfax.com.
[edit] Forms of In-flight Entertainment
A passenger may experience several types of in-flight entertainment upon travelling in a passenger aircraft. These may include:
Cabin Music: Soft music is often piped through the PA system and is heard in the cabin upon boarding, disembarkation, taxiing and take-off of the aircraft. The music is often chosen to be pleasant and soothing, and exhibits characteristics similar to elevator music.
Audio Entertainment: Audio entertainment is provided in the form of several selected channels a passenger may choose covering various genres of music, as well as news, information and comedy. Much like radio shows, most music channels are pre-recorded and feature their own DJs to provide chatter, song introductions and interviews with featured artists.
On AVOD (Audio Video on Demand) systems, software such as MusicMatch is used to select music off the music server. Phillips Music Server is one of the most widely used servers running under Windows Media Center used to control AVOD systems.
This form of in-flight entertainment is experienced through headphones that are distributed to the passengers after take-off. The headphone plugs are usually only compatible with the audio socket on the passenger's armrest (and vice-versa), and some airlines may charge a hire fee in order to obtain a pair.
Video Entertainment: Traditionally video entertainment is provided via a large video screen at the front of a cabin section, as well as smaller monitors situated every few rows above the aisles. Sound is supplied via the same headphones distributed for audio entertainment.
Increasingly, Personal TVs (PTVs) for every passenger has become more popular, providing each seat with a selection of channels broadcasting new and classic films, as well as comedies, documentaries, children's shows and drama series. Some airlines also present news and current affairs programming, which are often pre-recorded and delivered in the early morning before flights commence.
Personal TVs are operated via an Inflight Management System which stores pre-recorded channels on a central server, and streams them to PTV equipped seats during flight. AVOD systems store individual programs separately, allowing a passenger to have a specific program streamed to them privately, and be able to control the playback. Some airlines also broadcast live television through the Inflight Management System using satellite feeds.
Some airlines also provide video games as part of their video entertainment package. For example, Singapore Airlines passengers have access to a number of Super Nintendo games.
Airshow: The airshow is a flight information video channel broadcast through PTVs and cabin video screens. In addition to displaying a map that illustrates the current position and direction of the plane, the airshow also reveals details concerning the flight to passengers such as the altitude, airspeed, distance to destination, distance from origination and local time. Airshow information is derived from the plane's cockpit systems.
[edit] Accident
Faulty wiring in the new in-flight entertainment system was a cause of the crash of Swissair Flight 111.
