In-Flight Entertainment Soon To Disappear?

Above, seat-back screens aboard a Singapore Airlines Airbus A380. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

During the past several years, the airline industry has been gouging customers in a number of ways.

Fees are being charged for fuel, luggage, food & drink and seating. Prices have also been rising while service declines. It used to be a luxurious way to travel.

Now there's talk about doing away with in-flight entertainment.

Condé Nast Traveler has posted an article on the arguments, pro and con, about those seat-back screens that provide entertainment to passengers. It is titled, "Why Airlines Should Ditch Seat-Back Screens".

They start it with:

Word at 30,000 feet is that in-flight entertainment systems may be the next casualty of the airline industry. We know. We'll miss the rom-coms too. Blame it on the cost: Ten thousand dollars per seat-back is apparently too much to swing in an era when passengers are increasingly bringing hand-held devices and laptops on board. Travesty? We think so. Well, at least most of us do. Our editors weigh in.

During the past few years, I've noticed that I make less use of the airline-provided entertainment than I used to, with the exception of those long eleven-hour flights to Japan (and the nine-hour return flights). Most of the movies provided are lackluster Hollywood fare (well, at least Korean Air showed Astro Boy cartoons). If anything, if I'm not reading a book or napping, I'll just watch the map of the flight's progress.

To read more, go here.