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No one really liked the American Airlines “Oasis” retrofit. The first class cabin layout earned the nickname “noasis” and was the butt of many jokes and cause of much customer frustration. The carrier (eventually) took the problem seriously and decided to revise the conversion process. The new work is now underway, with N955NN in the shop receiving its new interior. And there’s a big IFE shift in play: The screens are being removed.
Sources confirmed that the aircraft will have the screens removed as part of the work. It is a “prototype” design for the revised Oasis project and the first aircraft from the legacy AA side of the operation to have its embedded inflight entertainment screens removed since the merger.
The move to pull screens out of the cabin is not too surprising. American Airlines (and particularly CEO Doug Parker) has long held the belief that extra amenities like that don’t move the needle when it comes to passengers choosing to fly with an airline or their willingness to pay more for that option. The carrier could also argue that the move is ecologically friendly. It will reduce the aircraft weight, resulting in lower fuel burn. But that impact is likely tiny compared to other factors at play.
It also comes against the backdrop of Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian standing on stage in from of CES and the world last week and highlighting his company’s commitment to keeping screens on board and growing the number installed across its fleet.
And it raises once again the debate around what drives passenger decisions when it comes to booking travel.
Does in-flight entertainment really matter?
Passenger surveys often show things like entertainment or wifi on board matter a lot. We’ve seen results suggesting that travelers will forego bathrooms on board for the sake of better wifi, for example. But when it comes to actually making purchases the evidence is far less clear. Schedule and price continue to dominate on that front, with loyalty programs and IFE/C options a tertiary factor at best.
Still, airlines must consider the full travel experience. United Airlines hopes that its CRJ550 will help shift some premium travelers back to its long-haul network based on a better inflight experience for the 45-90 minute connecting flight feeding from their small home airport to the hub and then onward in a Polaris business class cabin. Delta Air Lines similarly sees the commitment to embedded IFE screens across its fleet keeping passengers happy on shorter flights as well as delivering a more consistent experience on the connecting itineraries. That consistency matters to passengers, often more than shows in surveys.
American Airlines can still deliver a broad range of content and does so on board, so long as passengers bring their own screens to play it on. The on-board streaming IFE content selection is broad and American also pushed through its inflight wifi upgrade spectacularly fast. It now delivers high-speed options from Viasat and Gogo that supports streaming across its mainline single-aisle fleet. Yes, there’s a cost to using that connection compared to free wifi, but it is there.
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Every time I read about a major airline degrading service, I wonder if they have ever talked to a real live passenger.
Tiny seats, no food (or crummy food,) and now no IFE? I wonder if any one has correlated incidents of air rage with the reduction of in-flight amenities. I’m fortunate in that I rarely have to fly economy (i.e. “cattle-class”) any more, but when I do the air of apprehension is almost palpable.
Every time I read about a major airline degrading service, I wonder if they have ever talked to a real live passenger.
Tiny seats, no food (or crummy food,) and now no IFE? I wonder if any one has correlated incidents of air rage with the reduction of in-flight amenities. I’m fortunate in that I rarely have to fly economy (i.e. “cattle-class”) any more, but when I do the air of apprehension is almost palpable.
I would prefer a plane with an in-flight entertainment screen to one without.
So here is a blog post idea for you: please teach me how I can find that info when making my reservation. If the info is available on the AA website, I don’t know how to find it. It would be very helpful to know this.
I prefer no one banging on the back of my seat.
Unfortunately for AA it is harder to know as there are mixed configurations among the same aircraft type. The short answer, for better or worse, is to fly Delta or JetBlue if you want a screen on board.
I would prefer a plane with an in-flight entertainment screen to one without.
So here is a blog post idea for you: please teach me how I can find that info when making my reservation. If the info is available on the AA website, I don’t know how to find it. It would be very helpful to know this.
I prefer no one banging on the back of my seat.
Unfortunately for AA it is harder to know as there are mixed configurations among the same aircraft type. The short answer, for better or worse, is to fly Delta or JetBlue if you want a screen on board.
The Oasis aircraft is a horrible aircraft. The bathroom sinks are easy to small, it causes the floors to be wet all the time because it’s impossible to wash one hand at a time. The removal of screens is a bad idea. Parker needs to remember it’s American Airlines not America West. American used to be the industry leader in good things now it’s the industries mess.
NOasis is a mirage and an insult to their regular customers – I have to often work on a flight and often have my pc up and headphones connected to IFE – best of both world as the screens are at 2 levels. Now if I work no IFE – Doug Parker is a Train wreck for this airline, his cabin layouts on A319 diminished first class compared to the S80 they partly replaced, their seats in business class 788-8are the worst in industry – their food and in flight customer care has degraded to the point I now bring food on in business class. If i had my way I would install the oasis coach class toilets in the executive suite at AA headquarters and make Douggie and crew use them. He’s got to go.
I am no fan or Doug Parker and the descent of AA (ExPlat and lifetime Plat). But I disagree about screens. So often the screens were outdated so quickly, hard to maintain for the airlines, non functional at times. The new approach, BYOD (bring your device), works well for me. I have my phone and laptop along always, and have used both happily. More movies have been available than before. Seems sane to me. Think of planes with even 3 year old screens. Ugh. Tech moves fast. And then it often means for airlines all new seats. Not ideal for anyone (somehow we do have to pay for those screens and seat updates, and most all of us have screens).
It is a tough balance to strike. I’d much prefer to watch on a bigger screen that is at eye level than on my phone. And I like being able to work and watch at the same time. But the added weight and cost factors of the IFE systems are a very real consideration for carriers. Especially if passengers don’t shift booking patterns.
Good point but I only watch on my phone when I must. Laptop for work, tablet for videos is easy enough. Many seats can hold a laptop now and a few good options exist where they don’t. I have a magnetic holder that works on most, can hold an iPad (etc) easily, or a phone. The weight, cost, maintenance are factors. And most who sit up front are likely early adopters of tech (my bet is you are Seth) so once a screen is a few years old, ugh. Touch controls don’t work well or nearly at all. Image quality behind the times. All at a high cost to the airline (which gets passed along somehow–higher fares, fees, and/or underpaid staff). Weight and thus fuel, as you say, and nearly everyone has a screen or three along with them anyway. I am happy to pull out my watching options.
And unbundling changing flying means that spend is more complex for any major airline. Once a year fliers get on Spirit or Ryan or Frontier etc and yet the larger airlines do need to fill back and middle seats to help support the travels of us ff types. 🙂