In-flight entertainment (IFE) isn’t the reason most of us choose to fly with one airline over another.

Business Traveller’s own research has it at 13th place, behind cabin staff, punctuality, and food and drink, but what’s clear is that once onboard, it becomes very important, as demonstrated by the irate messages and letters we get when it fails to work.

There are lots of variables, of course – we are more likely to watch films during the day, while at night we may just want to sleep. Are we in economy class, where there are few other distractions to be had on a long-haul flight apart from a meal service, or business class, where there is more room to move around and recline our seat to get some sleep?

IFE has come a long way. In recent memory, it consisted simply of overhead screens that came down from the ceiling and played one movie, which you could listen to through headphones at your seat.

On long-haul aircraft, this gradually changed to personal screens, then there was the option of choosing channels and, finally, audio-video on-demand (AVOD), giving passengers not only choice but the ability to pause, rewind and fast-forward.

Move on a few more years and the selection of entertainment has increased hugely, with some airlines offering more than you could ever hope to watch or listen to.

SURF IN THE SKY

Change is continuing apace, not only in the quality of the screens – from HD to a new standard 4K – but the ability to get online while flying.

Connectivity is the new buzzword for in-flight entertainment – which for passengers means the ability to surf the web, take phone calls, send emails, and have an experience similar to one they would expect on the ground in a café or hotel.

For some passengers, connectivity in the air might be considered a mixed blessing at best. Many don’t want to be reached while flying – they view it as the one time they can relax, or get on with their work uninterrupted, or engage in some “blue sky thinking”. They certainly don’t want to listen to the person next to them on the phone while they are trying to sleep.

Still, most airlines have found they can minimise problems either by turning off the ability to make calls at certain times on night flights, or by appealing to passengers not to do so.


MAJOR PLAYERS

Connectivity on aircraft comes in many guises, from allowing passengers to use their phones and data under roaming agreements, as they would if travelling abroad, to the provision of wifi.

Panasonic has a dominant share of both the in-flight entertainment market and of airlines that have committed to in-flight connectivity (both satellite and air-to-ground).

It is not the only provider, however, with Thales also offering international connectivity and IFE, and providers such as Gogo being particularly strong in the continental US market by equipping airlines such as Delta and Virgin Atlantic.

David Bruner, Panasonic’s vice-president of global customer services, cites five main reasons why airlines are installing broadband connectivity.

“First, it’s because passengers want it,” he says. “Yes, there’s an issue of how much they are prepared to pay for it, but in trials where it’s been free, such as on Turkish Airlines, they had an average of 50 to 60 per cent of passengers onboard using it at some point. Bear in mind that was the average, so on day flights it would have been much higher, while on night flights lower.”

Bruner says the figures show that, worldwide, some 93 per cent of passengers are bringing devices onboard that have the ability to connect to the internet, and since they are using those devices on the ground, they will want to do so onboard if the price is right (although, at present, that desired price point seems to be next-to-nothing, just as it is on the ground with business travellers demanding free wifi).

Second, some airlines are introducing it as a USP, reasoning that by doing it first, it creates a good impression with passengers, even as other operators race to catch up.

Third, the connected aircraft also reduces the risk of card fraud and allows the sale of more expensive items – not just duty free, but even activities in the destination to which you are travelling.

Bruner uses the example of a holiday flight to the Seychelles, where the airline could sell a dive package or excursion onboard. With real-time connectivity for the credit card terminal, it reduces the risk of fraud for the airline, and also provides revenue to make up for the cost of providing the wifi, all while offering a service to customers.

The fourth reason to be connected is operational – information produced by the aircraft could lead to further efficiencies.

Aircraft weather sensors, for instance, provide valuable information on weather forming in the atmosphere, which could be fed back (or sold) to other airlines by companies such as Panasonic. As Bruner puts it: “You can’t control the weather, but if you can predict it, you can respond more effectively.”

Lastly, if there is a fault onboard, the maintenance team would learn about it in real time and, in some cases, be prepared with the necessary part when the aircraft arrives at its destination, cutting down the time taken to make repairs.

Airlines would argue that such operational efficiencies would be passed on to the customer in the form of lower ticket prices, but even if that didn’t happen, anything that reduces the chances of things going wrong with your flight or departure time are to be welcomed.

GROUND FORCES

For passengers, the ability to send emails might be useful, particularly if travelling on business, but when compared with the pace of technological developments on the ground, is it that impressive?

It could be viewed merely as airlines trying to keep up with the technology available in the home. Despite the high cost of installing these systems, touchscreens didn’t debut on aircraft, after all – what’s the big deal?

The answer is partly the harsh environment, both physical and regulatory, that the equipment has to operate in – you can’t have a beta version of IFE equipment flying around while engineers work out if it’s working and safe.

It’s also, as Bruner puts it, “about the most expensive place you can think of to provide internet”. In those circumstances, keeping to a price point for wifi close to that of a hotel – where we all complain if it’s not free – seems like financial suicide.

So why do it? Neil James, executive director of corporate sales and product management for Panasonic, says: “Airlines are making decisions today for the [forthcoming] B777X, and the chances of not having connectivity on an aircraft in 2020 are incomprehensible. Imagine telling the teenagers of today, who from 2020 onwards will be business travellers, that the aircraft won’t be connected.”

BRING YOUR OWN

So what will all of this mean for in-flight entertainment systems? Will people use them at all if they are travelling with their own wifi-enabled devices?

Panasonic’s new prototype “Jazz” seat, which it has developed with seat manufacturer B/E Aerospace, is the answer to this, providing room and support for personal devices while offering what it calls “an upgraded IFE experience”.

“The intention is to have a huge amount of storage onboard the aircraft [in order] for the airline to have content that is specific to its personality,” James says.

This will give the passenger “the ability to access the infinite depth of the web”, while “the heavy lifting” – content such as 4K-definition movies, which would take a long time to download to your personal device even at home – would be streamed locally either to the device or the IFE screen in the seat.

As James puts it: “The device is connected to the web so it can be streamed, but probably at a low level for ‘snackable’ content, which people will always want to have access to on their devices. The bigger content will be stored on the aircraft and streamed to the device.”

The advantage of this new system is that, instead of having to log on to the wifi with a credit card and create an account, your device becomes what Panasonic calls a “trusted token”, vouching for your identity.

There are various ways this can happen, including “Light ID” technology, which can be used on any device with a camera. Simply point it at the IFE screen, and it sends a signal that tells the system who you are, and synchronises everything.

Rather ominously, James adds: “It can even display adverts that are relevant to you.”Now that really is like the browsing experience you get on the ground…


KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

The new Jazz seats designed by Panasonic with seat manufacturer B/E Aerospace offer an upgraded in-flight entertainment experience and 4K-quality content streamed to the seat-back.

There will also be support for customers’ own devices – including the ability to watch content and navigate the system with your device, which will become a “trusted token” allowing “personalisation and contextualisation”.

In other words, the IFE system will know who you are, where you are going, what you like watching, and which adverts will be most relevant to you…

CONNECTIVITY PROVIDERS

Note: many, if not most, airlines that offer connectivity do so with more than one provider – hence there is some repetition below.

Aeromobile

Owned by Panasonic, this is a mobile roaming service available on airlines such as Aer Lingus, Air France, Alitalia, British Airways, Emirates, Etihad Airways, EVA Air, KLM, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, SAS, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, among others.

GoGo

Gogo offers broadband connectivity using wireless signals from a network of cellular towers across the continental US. Available on Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta, Japan Airlines, United and Virgin America.

Later this year, Gogo is introducing 2Ku satellite technology, which it says will be capable of delivering speeds of 70 Mbps to the aircraft – more than 20 times the bandwidth provided by Gogo’s current offering. Virgin Atlantic, Delta and Aeromexico have already signed up.


OnAir

Like Aeromobile, Onair is a mobile roaming service that also offers in-flight connectivity using Inmarsat’s Swiftbroadband services internationally.

It is available on Aeroflot, ANA, British Airways, Emirates, Etihad, Iberia, Oman Air, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, TAM and Thai Airways, among others.

TECHNICAL TERMS

KA/KU

Two different wavelength spectrums that deliver broadband to the aircraft via satellite. There’s a debate about which is best, and pros and cons for both.

For travellers, it’s academic – both power the wifi onboard, and there is unlikely to be differences in price as the market will determine this.

4K

Ultra-high-definition screens probably coming to your living room if a salesperson catches hold of you.

HTS – High Throughput Satellite

As the name suggests, this satellite allows higher bandwidth for in-flight applications, as well as higher data rates to and from the aircraft. It makes in-flight connectivity more affordable.

The benefits of HTS are independent of frequency and both Ku and Ka-band operators are taking advantage of them.