the future of flying looks *interesting*...

[Kristie]

Airlines experiment with hand-held systems

By KIRSTEN TAGAMI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/03/04


Even as they face mounting losses, airlines are trying to find new ways to make flights more fun.

The latest offering: hand-held entertainment devices that display movies, books, newspapers, magazines, TV shows and games.

Personalized electronic entertainment has been around for several years, mainly in the form of seat-back video offered on low-fare airlines like JetBlue and Delta Air Lines' Song unit. But built-in systems are expensive to install and don't always work well.

Enter lightweight, portable devices like the Pea ó which stands for Personal Entertainment Appliance ó the digEplayer and the Yes Solo machine.

American Airlines, the world's biggest carrier, will begin testing the Pea soon. For about $8 to $10, coach customers will be able to choose from content such as games and magazines. They also can pay a few dollars more for "early window" movies released about 90 days before they're available on DVD. The devices are likely to be free in first class and business class.

The wireless Pea looks like a laptop computer and has a place for customers to swipe credit cards to pay for movies or for shopping.

Atlanta-based Delta said it is looking at ways to improve in-flight entertainment with updated technology but hasn't decided which system to use.

One pioneer in the hand-held entertainment arena was digEplayer, created by an entrepreneur who worked weekends as a baggage handler for Alaska Airlines.

The device is now being used by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and others. The digEplayer has movies and audio that are updated every 30 to 60 days.

The Pea, on the other hand, can accommodate overnight content updates.

The Yes machine ó Your Entertainment System ó made by General Dynamics will offer 3-D interactive maps and flight information; real-time text news, sports and weather; the Internet; and live satellite TV.

The device is being tested in a limited number of seats on Virgin Atlantic.

Offering portable entertainment devices makes sense for airlines, said Robert Mann, an industry consultant based in Port Washington, N.Y.

Even though each device typically costs $1,000 or more, they're far cheaper than cabin systems, he said. The main reason is that airlines have to take jets out of service to install those.

"Technology changes so fast and personal tastes change so fast, it doesn't make as much sense to put something permanently in the seat back," he said.

A plane full of portable devices weighs less than one with a cabin system ó an increasingly important consideration now that fuel prices are at record levels, according to the industry newsletter Airfax.

Some airlines have chosen to sit out this latest airline trend, at least for now. AirTran Airways figures there isn't that much customer demand for the new devices.

"A lot of our customers have their own DVD players and other toys they bring onboard," said spokesman Tad Hutcheson. "We encourage that."