NO IFE on domestic A/C

[flybynite]

GOOD! Maybe we can get back to some peace and quiet on the airplane!!!

Oh, no. Those same announcements will be made by the flight attendants, verbatim, and after 4 or 5 legs a day for 4 days you'll be raspy.

And some f/a's don't do the announcements well either. They go too fast andstringtheirwordstogethersoyoucan'tunderstandthem.

But I will have to say, if I hear "Cheri Baby" by the Four Seasons one more time I think I'm going to open a vein.

 

[N924PS]

PA18, or should I call you "Super Cub",

Great post! I hope you brought this to the attention of senior management.

Can't wait to hear their response.

 

[ussnark]

Who is the Rhodes Scholar who decided to run a complete, full Shuttle schedule on the Fourth of July holiday, when practically nobody -- especially high-yield business travelers -- were flying?

They are running out of places to hide profit?

I would think releasing this to the board and/or public might motivate "those managers" to find a different way to do business. YMMV

 

[Jetsetter2Ord]

What I find interesting is that I participated in a survey six months ago where I was asked to walk through the cabin during a Movie flight and count how many passengers were watching the movie.

• How many had their own headsets watching the movie.
  • How many had their own handheld Ipod.

• How many were working on a Sudoku puzzle
• How many had their own DVD player

I am sure they have been talking of removing the IFE systems for quite sometime. So my guess is this was not a spur of the moment decision.

I also know that on any given flight, the average headset revenue actually collected is under $20 so the cost of the headsets/movie rights is not cost effective anymore.

It also makes sense as to the cost saving measure by canceling the contract with Rockwell Collins for the repair of the IFE systems (monitors, headset jacks, channel selectors). ANother sign that this has been in the works to eliminate the IFE systems.

Guess we no longer will have to ensure the PES button is left on for the entire flight per instructions from inflight. We will see another "sticker" that says De-activated.

This all now makes sense to why the "NEW" inflight safety demo has been put on hold. Six months ago, the company solicited employees to apply to be the New Stars for the New Video...one of the perks was you would be the FIRST to wear the NEW uniform...then the delay was we were awaiting NEW Safety information cards to be created/printed. Guess we will not see a new Safety video created now that most IFE systems will be removed.

Whats next we all ask?? It just might become like the Mad TV spoof thats being sent around the internet lately...Oxygen masks? Your Seat belt? The air we breathe?

Why not charge for the use of a seat belt extention? Or charging Passengers of size for two seats like WN does??

I still think we will see the Ovens in the galleys being removed next...a vending machine will be installed and passengers will have the opportunity to help themselves at a cost. It cant be much different then flights I hear people talk about where the "crews" have their self serve stations.

I agree that removing the IFE systems will mean that a LIVE demo will be required. Will all FAs be required to learn Spanish to perform an English version followed with a Spanish version..will we be required to wear Sombreros too?

You no longer will be forced to watch all those advertisements about this months featured destination, or Skymall ads. I am sure the FAs will probably be receiving a new inflight announcement booklet with more "Ads" to be read during your flight.

Why not just print out Bingo cards and sell ad space on each square? Anything is possible, who would have thought we would be selling beverages??

I am determined that ANYTHING is possible these days!!

Jet

 

[US1YFARE]

[*]How many were working on a Sudoku puzzle

So other than the A and the C, how many were doing a Soduku?

 

[Veritas]

Carry-On Books To Take You Up, Up And Away

One of my worst nightmares is being stuck on a plane without a good book to read. Happily, after much trial and error — and packing far too many books — I've finally realized what makes a perfect carry-on book:

You want a book — either fiction or nonfiction — that's complex enough to smother your annoyance when the guy in the row ahead reclines his seat into your lap, but not so intellectually challenging that it demands a dictionary. No plotless wonders with paragraph-length sentences; you need to be able to put the book down when the person sitting by the window needs to step over you to get to the bathroom.

Mostly you want something that's intriguing enough to make you forget that you're 34,000 feet in the air and, in your heart of hearts, you don't really understand how the plane stays up.

The books I've chosen meet these criteria beautifully, and, as such, they've all been awarded the Nancy Pearl Wanderlust Award for Great Airplane Reading...

 

[LCC_#1]

Oh, no. Those same announcements will be made by the flight attendants, verbatim, and after 4 or 5 legs a day for 4 days you'll be raspy.

And some f/a's don't do the announcements well either. They go too fast andstringtheirwordstogethersoyoucan'tunderstandthem.

But I will have to say, if I hear "Cheri Baby" by the Four Seasons one more time I think I'm going to open a vein.

Good thing is most I fly with HATE the level off, including myself. It will be PED, FF welcome, fasten seatbelt sign, and we'll be around in a few. <_<

 

[DCaf]

Who is the Rhodes Scholar who decided to run a complete, full Shuttle schedule on the Fourth of July holiday, when practically nobody -- especially high-yield business travelers -- were flying?

Many employees wondered the same thing. It all has to do with slots. Use them or lose them. US can reduce the sked on Christmas and New Years, for example, without being penalized. The various airport authorities denied this dispensation over the 4th of July weekend. With the price of fuel, I'm sure US would have loved to reduce the sked.

 

[US1YFARE]

It all has to do with slots. Use them or lose them. US can reduce the sked on Christmas and New Years, for example, without being penalized. The various airport authorities denied this dispensation over the 4th of July weekend.

Just curious, there is no way they can cancel a flight? Also, based on another post, other airlines decreased their schedule. Is that inaccurate. I'm just curious because it is plane rediculus that they would make US operate those flights with fuel the way it is and the loads being what they were. Couldn't they cancel the flights that day?

 

[SS255]

Supposedly management was supposed to "formally" notify the employees today. It's been all over the news, so I'm wondering if anybody on this board can fill us in on the Big Reveal.

 

[ussnark]

Many employees wondered the same thing. It all has to do with slots. Use them or lose them. US can reduce the sked on Christmas and New Years, for example, without being penalized. The various airport authorities denied this dispensation over the 4th of July weekend. With the price of fuel, I'm sure US would have loved to reduce the sked.

So, the other airlines (DAL) that decreased their schedules will expect to lose their slots?

 

[BoeingBoy]

Supposedly management was supposed to "formally" notify the employees today. It's been all over the news, so I'm wondering if anybody on this board can fill us in on the Big Reveal.

It's covered in 'About US' which came out today.

Jim

 

[JAMAKE1]

US is not the only airline that is taking delivery of new aircraft without IFE even though current models in the fleet have them.

The newest 737-800 & -900 in the CO fleet have no IFE. The FAs stated that early next year that a "new" system with many options will be instaleed.

It is a long flight ANC-SEA-EWR without an IFE, and I usually don't care but I can't read or work for that long.

Continental will be outfitting their A/C with Live TV installed in the seat backs starting in Q1 2009. Live TV, LLC is owned by Jet Blue. They inked a deal in January of this year to have Live TV installed on CO's entire narrow body fleet.

 

[flybynite]

Cool. We should be so lucky.

B)

 

[flybynite]

CBS message states no IFE for domestic as well as the Caribbean, Latin America and Hawaii.

Those are going to be some miserably long flights.