SoFloFlyer

Truthfully, I never traveled for business and of course I wouldn’t delay a commute for IFEs. That said, I regularly booked DL even at an AA hub. When I got passed the AA customer service and the them not canceling flights due to lack of crews, it wasn’t even a comfortable ride. IFE was the straw that broke the camels back for a leisure pax like myself.

Another person mentioned that it was about perception of the brand. Maybe for some, IFEs aren’t a big deal. But not having them would cost the brand much more than having them installed. Again, I think AA completely missed the mark on this one

cessnapilot

I fly both and I prefer the streaming on AA as I can use my headset. On Delta I need to remember to bring a cable to plug my Bose in. Wires suck. If the seatback has Bluetooth… now that’s another story.

Montcalm

Troll account. Another retired / The Line loser.

StoleIt

Agree to disagree.

I think AAL's IFE is superior to both DAL and UAL. I haven't carried a set of headphones with wires on me in years and that caught me completely off guard on my most recent UAL flight.

Also, added benefit, AAL's IFE doesn't pause when someone comes on the PA with a 2 minute credit card pitch.

RippinClapBombs

You commute to United from an American hub?

CRJphlyer

Good thing passengers feel differently. Proof is in the pudding… err profits.

I don’t recall a credit card pitch the last time I flew in the back of a Delta flight. I don’t think that’s a thing.

SoFloFlyer

Nope, I’m saying when I lived in South Florida and would buy a confirmed ticket for whatever reason (vacation, personal travel, etc..), I still booked on DL

skruts

Honestly this whole conversation is a bit of a moot point. A bunch of pilots talking about if they like having TVs on the back of a seat or not feels like something my 7 year old would argue about at the lunch table with his friends.

Our load factor is extremely strong, without IFE.

Yes, for infrequent travelers, it is sometimes a deciding point. I have heard from many friends of friends at parties or wherever “Oh, I love flying United because they always have the TVs”. These passengers usually flying to low yield places with lots of competition or in/out of a UA/DL hub where they’d be flying them regardless. Few CLT-PHX passengers are taking a connection in Houston or Atlanta over a direct just for IFE.
For me personally? I prefer the seat back device holder because I am used to it. I like my own content and I like putting my iPad in there. If I wasn’t prepared for that, absolutely I’d be annoyed. I get it. For most customers though, the main thing driving business is price and convenience. It’s not like we have the perceived reputation of NK or F9 from a general public point of view. Even if we know on the inside it’s not always too far off.

Finally, this is a credit card company with jets. Those cards make us far more money than IFE would. I don’t love it, but I get it.

With respect to price and convenience - and what this thread was moreso about - we don’t even get the opportunity to compete with UA and DL on a lot of destinations because we refuse to try any Asia/Europe international strategy besides hiding under our shell and sometimes flying to London.

Hopefully new minds at SV will move us towards expansion. The XLRs, when they eventually show up, are being outfitted on the interior for exactly that so I’m staying cautiously optimistic.These XLRs, by the way, will have IFE.

RippinClapBombs

So in other words you had an application submitted at American and they never sent an invite ☹️. I was asking to substantiate your aimless angst against American. You sounds like SK’s puppet boy… IFE this, IFE that.

How much time, as you once said, “Monday Night Quarterbacking” have you conducted analyzing American’s product? I thought you were booking your travel on Delta?

SoFloFlyer

That was a weak attempt at a diss ngl. Got the invite to AA, decided not to pursue them. Nice try tho.

IFEs is not exclusive to UA so being called a “SK puppet boy” isn’t even a good diss either. I’ve flown AA enough to know that they have a garbage product. IFE aside, GA and FAs are awful, pax can be just as rude. NPS, CD:00, STAR:00, and Completion are consistently behind UA/DL and sometimes SWA.

We don’t have have to agree on IFEs, but let’s not pretend like AA is best in class then settling for personal attacks. I know this is APC, but you can do better than that