Entertainment hits new heights
Device gives fliers choice of movies, music, newspapers, books, games and TV shows
By Mark Skertic
Tribune staff reporter
Published November 15, 2004
American Airlines will begin testing a new entertainment offering Monday that packs a cineplex-worth of movies and a shelf-full of books into a 3-pound package.
The personal entertainment appliance, or PEA, also has audio books and text versions, TV shows such as `Frasier" and "Without a Trace," daily newspapers, games and music videos. All are available with the swipe of a credit card in a reader on the side of the machine.
The devices are a new way for an industry hit hard by tough competition, rising fuel costs and plummeting profits to make some additional revenue by offering a service people want.
"It's growing because there is a growing expectation," said Rob Brookler, spokesman for the World Airline Entertainment Association, an industry trade group. "It's a part of our lifestyles. People walk around with their cell phones, they have wireless access. ... When they get on a plane, they don't want to be told they only have one movie to watch, no questions asked."
The airline will begin testing passenger demand for the PEA on its O'Hare to Los Angeles route. The device is a modified laptop that's about the size of a copy of "The Da Vinci Code."
The days when everyone on the plane watched the same movie or chose from a handful of prerecorded music are ending. Three hand-held entertainment-device manufacturers are vying for a slice of a growing marketplace.
The machines give passengers more choices--a business traveler can watch Will Smith battle machines in "I, Robot," while kids in the next row can watch "Finding Nemo"--and give airlines a much-needed revenue stream.
American will charge $10 or $12 to use the PEA during the test period, trying to determine the best price, said Mary McKee, managing director of in-flight products for the airline. For one charge, the user gets unlimited access to anything on the device for the duration of the flight.
"It's audio-video on demand, which means you watch it when you want to and stop it when you need to stop it," McKee said. "And you can skip around. So you can start a movie, and decide you want to listen to music.
"There's a lot of content, and even in a five-hour flight there's no way you're going to get through it all."
Airlines have been searching for new ways to entertain passengers on long flights. Lufthansa offers the wireless system Connexion developed by Boeing. AirTran Airways has announced it will provide XM satellite radio on its flights. And JetBlue has TV screens installed in seatbacks that show DirecTV satellite programming.
The PEA was developed by IMS, a Southern California software and systems company.
"At the end of the day, it's all about the content," said Joseph Rosen, IMS chairman. His firm has designed the system to be updated daily, so it has current newspapers and can quickly offer other new programming.
Competitors include the DigEplayer, a similar device that is the brainchild of an Alaska Airlines baggage handler who took his idea to his bosses.
"The system has to be simple to use and robust, a little rugged," said Bill Boyd, who still carries baggage a few weekends a month to stay in touch with his old friends.
Last month, Boyd's company, APS Inc., was purchased by Wencor, an aircraft product and parts distributor. Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Ryanair are among those using DigEplayer, and other airlines have expressed interest in testing it, Boyd said.
Virgin Atlantic Airways is using General Dynamics Corp.'s Yes, short for your entertainment station. Yes systems, which are typically given new movies and other programming once a month, can be hand-held or installed in seatbacks.
The device American is testing allows unlimited use with one swipe of a credit card. A passenger can start a movie, pause it for a nap, play a few hands of blackjack and read the paper. Users wear headphones--machines have two jacks, so two can share a machine--and there are no external speakers.
During the test period, American will be surveying users about how they like the device, including whether they want their movies edited for potentially objectionable content. "The Manchurian Candidate" movie selection on the PEA has been edited, but the airline wants to know if that is a service most want, McKee said.
"Some people are going to say `If I'm paying $10, I want to see the movie the same way I'd see it in a theatre,'" she said. "We're choosing to go the conservative route, initially, which is to edit any R-rated movies that we show."
The airline will test the product through early next year, including tests on the Chicago to Seattle route in late January. Ft. Lauderdale to Los Angeles and Dallas to Seattle routes also will be tested.
Brookler is optimistic.
"As the technology becomes more affordable, it's going to make its way onto more aircraft," Brookler said. "And for airlines, there is definitely the potential for revenue generation."
