American Airlines eliminating in-seat screens on new jets

[Mad_Murdock]

Really?

Think about it. You're on a flight for several hours. Which do you prefer?

Since I'm 6'2, I prefer being on any plane that gives me maximum legroom. I was flying from East coast to West coast, back when all they had was a projector system beaming on the wall and in comparison to having some guy beat my headrest for 4-5 hours, I'll take the old projector system. If all the screens do is play a movie or TV shows it's fine, Delta's systems for a while had games to play on the touch screen and that's where all the headrest beating came in.

Here lately, most all the flights I've been on had no screens, but USB plug ins for phones and tablets. Plus having flown so much over the years, I'm a gifted sleeper on a plane. In fact, I'm like Pavlov's dog, within 30 mins of getting on a plane, I'll be asleep, which again is why headrest beating is extra annoying to me.

[stabetha]

A lot of times you can't.

are you flying in the spirit of st. Louis? every plane I've been on for the last ten years had charging ports or at least an outlet, hell even greyhound has outlets on all their buses

[Krastyn]

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/25/tech...max/index.html

Way to go AA.
Now even more people will choose other airlines.

I personally have flown AA once and it was a pretty mediocre experience. Old airplane, bad food, loud flight attendants..
Pity for those who do fly with them though. Stuck staring at nothing.

Welcome to the future. To use a Canadian example, Westjet started doing the same last year.

Ignoring the "American contends that smartphones, tablets or laptops do a better job than the airline's individual screens", in flight entertainment is one of the highest maintenance items on the plane (anecdotal information from a pilot friend).

For me personally, I'm all for it. When I'm travelling I will always have a smart phone. Additionally, I'll usually have a tablet and/or a laptop. Either of those screens are better than the seat back screens, have a way more convenient location for a headphone jack, I don't have to worry about if I have the right headphone jack (two pronged vs one), and the planes have both USB and AC power options. It's extra convenient with a tablet, as I can either hang it where there screen would be, or put it at a different angle / location to make viewing more comfortable. As a 6'5" guy, if the person in front of me manages to put their seat back (and usually crushing my knees), even with tilting a built in screen, it's often not the greatest of angles to watch something.

Using Westjet again as an example, the selection of things to watch on Westjet Connect (their free wi-fi streaming service) is way better than what you get on their planes that still have the screens.

[Mad_Murdock]

are you flying in the spirit of st. Louis? every plane I've been on for the last ten years had charging ports or at least an outlet, hell even greyhound has outlets on all their buses

No sadly not all planes have them. Delta has some older 737s and CRJs that don't have power. The older the plane, the more like it won't have power. Granted a lot of the planes with no power that I've been on, are the short 1 hour or less flights.

[Tennis]

are you flying in the spirit of st. Louis? every plane I've been on for the last ten years had charging ports or at least an outlet, hell even greyhound has outlets on all their buses

Westjet doesn't have outlets. Neither does Porter. Not sure about Air Canada's narrowbody.
Been on AA and they didn't have outlets.

[the game]

Westjet doesn't have outlets. Neither does Porter. Not sure about Air Canada's narrowbody.
Been on AA and they didn't have outlets.

Carry a juice pack for your devices problem solved.

[Tennis]

Carry a juice pack for your devices problem solved.

Lol dude. Who even has a juicepack? Seems way unnecessary.

[Krastyn]

Westjet doesn't have outlets. Neither does Porter. Not sure about Air Canada's narrowbody.
Been on AA and they didn't have outlets.

Any new Westjet plane that doesn't have TV's, has outlets.

[the game]

Lol dude. Who even has a juicepack? Seems way unnecessary.

I mean if you can't manage to entertain yourself for 5 hours without a TV then it would seem that your phone/tablet would be the best way to entertain you. Since apparently your phone/tablet battery wont' last for 5 hours a juice pack seems like a great idea for your 5 hour flight. Since according to you there are no charge ports on a plain either.

[Svifnymr]

I missed my flight from Seattle to Atlanta (My flight in from Korea arrived late) I got a new flight with Alaska. I feared the worst, assumed small crappy airline.

Oh my god. nicest plane Id ever been on. Every seat is decently big and comfortable, electric outlets and usb ports at every seat, good food. Next flight I take will be Alaska if it flies where I am going. Highly recommended.

Alaska Air was the only direct flight I saw from south Florida to Seattle, and it was cheapest, so I took that. Was a fine experience.

On topic, they lacked screens but they just handed out tablets to those that wanted them. Seems a much more logical expenditure than putting a screen in every seat.

[Tennis]

Any new Westjet plane that doesn't have TV's, has outlets.

The newer ones but their fleet renewal will take a while.

[Krastyn]

The newer ones but their fleet renewal will take a while.

Correct. But the old models have TV's, so you don't need your device. So in either situation, you have a way to watch what is offered.

[minteK917]

Theres already a man that fixed this.

[Deleted]

What happened to reading a book or having a conversation?

[Tennis]

Correct. But the old models have TV's, so you don't need your device. So in either situation, you have a way to watch what is offered.

Regardless, I don't want to watch movies on my 5.5 inch smartphone. Heck, most people don't. We want to watch it on the seatback entertainment unit.

AA will lose business for this.

[ati87]

Few months ago I flew on a plain that had this and they had some decent movies on it but quality wise it was crap.

It was useful 5 years ago when tablets where just a new thing but now with how smarthphones and tablets are it's just easier to download bunch of things pre-flight, take a powerbank or 2 (you should anyway when you travel) and just watch you're own things.

[May90]

What happened to reading a book or having a conversation?

When you are flying alone and your neighbors aren't very talkative, the latter is out of questions. The former... It might be just me, but I've always found the way the seats are set up to make reading inconvenient: you have to assume a wonky position, given how limited the space is, and my neck and back always start hurting after a few minutes of doing that.