British Airways Is Now Running An Odd In-flight Entertainment Trial
- British Airways is introducing a streaming video service on some long-haul aircraft - so-called BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) entertainment. But what's the point when these aircraft already have seatback entertainment screens?
British Airways is becoming known for its controversial experiments, and its latest in-flight entertainment trial is certainly eye-catching.
Starting later this month, British Airways will introduce a streaming entertainment service on some of its widebody planes, allowing passengers to watch movies and television shows on their own devices for free.
On the face of it, this seems like a positive move, giving passengers an additional way to enjoy blockbuster films and binge-worthy box sets from the airline’s extensive content library.
The question is, though, why? What’s the point in adding streaming entertainment on aircraft that are already fitted with seatback entertainment screens?
Insiders say this is currently a limited trial, with the new streaming service available on Airbus A380 superjumbos, Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners fitted with Wi-Fi, and Boeing 777-200 planes kitted out with an older model of in-flight entertainment.
BYOD – Bring Your Own Device
Several years ago, experts estimated that the wireless in-flight entertainment market would be worth a staggering $3.53 billion by 2025. This includes in-flight Wi-Fi, as well as the introduction of so-called ‘Bring Your Own Device’ streaming entertainment.
Traditionally, BYOD was focused on the short-haul market, where many airlines haven’t traditionally installed seatback entertainment or are ripping out screens to save weight and maintenance costs.
Adding BYOD to planes that didn’t have any form of entertainment option is a big win for the passenger experience. It’s less certain what BYOD brings to planes that already have seatback screens.
Customers will access the in-flight Wi-Fi portal as normal and then click on a link to access the streaming service. A range of movies and television shows will then be available to watch straight away.
Aside from addressing issues when the in-flight entertainment system crashes or an individual screen isn’t working, it seems like this new streaming service has limited benefit for passengers who have access to a far larger entertainment library on the seatback screen right in front of them.
Where a streaming service could come in really useful is on short-haul aircraft that don’t have seatback screens, but British Airways has no plans to roll out the initiative on any narrowbody planes, including those operating longer flights of between four and five hours in duration.
This seems like a wasted opportunity to add a real premium advantage over budget short-haul rivals on its narrowbody fleet, but this isn’t in scope at the moment, even on a very limited basis.
If British Airways really wanted to invest in passenger-pleasing entertainment add-ons for its long-haul fleet, you would expect the airline to start introducing Bluetooth earphone connectivity, live TV, personalized entertainment recommendations for frequent flyers, and the ability to save and pick up shows where you left them off.
British Airways says it plans to use feedback from the trial to shape its future in-flight entertainment strategy. What that means in reality, however, is very much open to debate.
Would you use a streaming service on your own device if you have a seatback entertainment screen in front of you? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below…
This has been available on most US carriers for a while now. Some aircraft only have BYOD entertainment. Not a big deal.
I used this type of service on Hawaiian airlines over two years ago. It worked perfectly. Their planes didn’t have seat back screens, just a holder for your phone
The smaller screen on your phone wasn’t much of an issue and the sound quality through your own earphones was far superior. Overall a good experience. Better than many screens that have lagging touchscreens and very poor sound quality. The system should definitely be added to single Isle aircraft with flight times of 4 hours or greater.
I wouldn’t want to use my own device. Apart from being smaller and possibly at a less comfortable angle to watch, I like the opportunity to choose off the seatback menu.
It would make sense to me that airlines would eventually use this to phase out seat back entertainment and their associated costs. It would make much more sense to offer this short haul otherwise.
The question with BA these days, in their race to the bottom to catch up with Easyjet and Ryanair is, ‘what’s in it for them?’
At least with your own device you can use your own Bluetooth headphones and don’t have to deal with the BA obsession of fitting headphones jacks on the inside of seat arms, the ones that do work come out every time you move about. Last 2 trips have had fairly poor quality screens with bruises and non functioning touch screens.
Fe systems cost to purchase, cost to install, cost to maintain and cost to fly because of the additional weight.
This is just trialling yet another approach to cutting BA’s service and further increase profitability.
IFE systems cost to purchase, cost to install, cost to maintain and cost to fly because of the additional weight.
This is just trialling yet another approach to cutting BA’s service and further increase profitability because customers don’t count .and having the highest margins of any European carrier isn’t enough for the greed at the top!