‘Fasten your seat belts, raise your tray table, and disconnect your Bluetooth headsets from the entertainment unit’
- Reference: 1625030123
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/06/30/united_airlines_bluetooth_to_the_seat/
- Source link:
United has promised its new fleet will boast “the industry’s fastest available in-flight WiFi that lets customers stream video from online services.
“The aircraft also will have Bluetooth technology throughout for easy connections between wireless headphones and the seatback entertainment screens.”
[1]
The cost of the WiFi service has not been revealed.
[2]
Nor has whether cabin crew will be trained in Bluetooth troubleshooting. The Register mentions that skill as the universe of Bluetooth audio kit is enormous, and not all of it plays well with others.
With the new fleet comprised largely of planes with 200 or more seats, that’s a lot of potential for frustrated punters to complain that they can’t enjoy the ten-inch screens that will be installed in every 737 economy class seat. And what a first-class passenger will make of being unable to tune in to the 13-incher their extra fare pays for remains unknowable — but almost certainly won’t be pleasant.
[3]Bezos v Branson: Battle of the wannabe Space Barons as Virgin Galactic cleared by FAA to start flying customers
[4]Boeing fined $17m after fitting uncertified sensors to 737 Max and NG airliners for 4 years
[5]Air India admits to data breach impacting 4.5m customers, sat on the news for five weeks
United plans to have 40 members of its new fleet in the air by the end of 2022, before it ramps up with 138 additions in 2023. 2022 therefore looks like a year of Bluetooth debugging.
The airline has touted its fleet refresh as both a shot in the arm for the US economy, and an endorsement of its post-pandemic resilience. It’s also claimed the new planes will reduce frustration, by guaranteeing a slot in an overhead bin for every passenger. ®
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They will, for a small fee, lend you a pre-paired set of headphones?
qantas never crash
Qantas gave up on in seat entertainment
they simply equip users who want a screen with a managed iPad and wired headphones
people who already have an iPad/android/windows simply can connect to the Wifi and download the entertainment app
everything is an app...
the App simply is a HTML interface to the onboard server which can stream movies or audio (podcasts)
basically like a netflix in the sky
WTF are United Airlines thinking ?
Still ain't going if it's a Boeing
This order of A321Neo is the death warrant for the Boeing NMA.
PS1: The information I have is United Airlines ordering 270 planes, 200 737 MAX and 70 A321 Neo
PS2: No MAX for me, thank you!
Just make sure if you fly Max not make it the same week you give up smoking, glue sniffing, amphetamines etc, although having good blutooth cans and watching a good movie may improve your experience towards the end of the flight.
Would you not want to knock at the heaven's door completely clean though?
the evil that is the american airline industry
by guaranteeing a slot in an overhead bin for every passenger. ®
how much extra do you have to pay, to get to travel in a seat?
F**k bluetooth for the in-flight entertainment. In fact, f**k in-flight entertainment: Just give me a few more inches leg room.
F**k bluetooth for the in-flight entertainment.
and popcorn, gimme popcorn, price equivalent of gold popcorn.
...
soon, to fly undisturbed, you'll have to wear an all-embracing helmet to muffle the outside world and supply your own, popcorn-free oxygene. Or rather: forced to rent it from the airline. But hey, need to pay to save this planet, you know!
Re: F**k bluetooth for the in-flight entertainment.
"popcorn-free oxygene"
I had no idea there was a mashup with a BBC Radiophonic workshop tune.... My copy is already popcorn free.
Fly the unfriendly skies
IIRC United were one of the last hold outs of central aisle-mounted TV screens and those horrible rubber-tube pneumatic headsets. They were also one of the first to charge for any alcohol, even the plastic mini wine bottles, on transatlantic flights. I stopped flying with them years ago, and won't be back.
endorsement of its post-pandemic resilience
plain English: people can't wait to shit on this planet EVEN MORE!
Something to look forward to
Good to see a major airline being bullish on the prospects of renewed travels. I am especially looking forward to enhanced in-flight entertainment, what with every Tom, Dick, and Karen pairing their personal smartphones to the screens and/or to the entertainment system at large, quite possibly to the screens / earbuds of other seats on the plane, and then disembarking without wiping all the synched contacts, intimate WhatsApp chats, nude photos...
Hilarity will ensue...
They can buy as many new planes as they like
I still won't fly with them. For the last four years, I've been counting good and bad news stories about airlines and they are right down at the bottom of my list at -89. Personal experience confirms that.
Unconscious
Given the low quality of entertainment that is being produced, they might as well give out sedatives, so that you will wake up upon landing.
And in case Boeing 737 MAX, when the flight won't go according to plan, you won't know.
United inflight entertainment
Just make sure you don't let them handle your guitar.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo
(true story)
Bluetooth for at seat entertainment is going to be interesting with 200 people pairing all at once - how will they make sure people pair their own device to their own seat?!