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Better Bring A Book

Posted by Amy Hatch Jul 11, 2008

It's no secret that the airline industry is paring down these days.

And who isn't? Dude, gas is, like, four bucks a gallon here in the Middle Of Nowhere, Illinois. I can only imagine what it costs to fill up that jet plane.

But ditching the in-flight entertainment system? Not cool. Not cool at all.

Tripso broke the story, and the Washington Business Journal confirmed it: US Airways will eliminate the in-flight movies on some domestic flights, saving the company nearly $10 million annually.

The Journal also states that the airline intends to begin charging for coffee and soda.

I get that times are tight and everyone needs to cut back—I certainly am. I know that the industry's numbers are down to almost where they were just post-9/11.

But really?

Cutting all the small services passengers have come to expect seems like a miscalculation. It's already hard enough to get from here to there in the air—delays, cancellations and general poor customer service abounds. I can attest to this personally, since I took at least four round-trip flights with my daughter last year.

Passengers can expect to be treated as if the airline is doing them a favor by getting them to and from their destinations. And if I'm not mistaken, we gave them a pretty big wad of cash to do so.

I'm all for cutting costs when it benefits both the carrier and the customer. But what's next? Pay toilets?

I guess I better stock up on quarters. And invest in a portable DVD player.

Tags: air_travel, usairways, travel


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Jul 11, 2008 7:31 PM Reply Guest Dana

In our family, it's all about the iPod. We only take it out in terrible conditions, like exceedingly long car trips. But our son holds the little screen in its protective case and watches something he enjoys rather than whatever we might get by chance on the airline screens.

Since none of the big carriers ever really put in the personal televisions like JetBlue has, I don't really see the whole entertainment system as a loss. But you're right that going anywhere these days is an expensive and painful endeavor when it comes to airline travel. My spouse is in a plane 2-4 times a week. I don't know how he does it, other than the fact that he always flies American and is an Executive Platinum member, so he's treated a LOT differently.

When we go with the kid we cash in miles for free seats, and I swear I can feel business class calling to him when he's stuck with us in the cattle car.

Jul 11, 2008 7:46 PM Reply Click to view Donna M. Airoldi's profile Donna M. Airoldi

Dana, I hear you on business class calling out to your husband during your family trips via coach class. I used to use my miles for business class tickets for my vacations, but now that I’m engaged, I redeem them for two coach tickets so my fiancé and I can travel together. It’s been painful to go back to coach, especially these days with sold-out flights the norm.

As for the loss of the entertainment systems, I never used them on short domestic flights, but they definitely came in handy on long international ones. They also seem to keep a lot of people occupied and pacified during flights, and it’ll be interesting to see if “air rage” kicks up a notch or two as the airlines take away these diversions that could have been used to keep passengers’ minds off the other cuts in service being made.

Jul 16, 2008 12:50 PM Reply Guest Kevin

I was a United 1K from 2004-2007. I dropped from grand exalted business traveler to "General Member" over night. Going from essentially unlimited upgrades to "Seating Group 12" was a shock. So much so that I've pretty much started flying the so-called "low cost carriers" now exclusively.

The irony, of course, is that you get better service on the low cost carriers in coach than you do on the big boys. I was one of those people who used to scoff at Southwest--but I am a complete believer. You do a get a drink and a snack and the crew really enjoys their work, which means they make you feel human.

Yes, there's no in-flight movie but when we travel with our kids we bring a portable DVD player no matter what airline we fly. I'm not sure I want my kids watching "300" -- even if it is edited for television.

Jul 17, 2008 3:14 PM Reply Guest Dana in response to: Donna M. Airoldi

In April 2005, we flew to Stockholm. We went over on United and came back on SAS. United had the usual American affair with the movie situation...

SAS kicked their *** on the way back. Individual in-seat movie screens with satellite stations and video games for free. And then the post dinner drink cart came around with free liquor.

What is it about air travel (mostly international) that non-American airlines get right that we always mess up?

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