With LiveTV going out are they going to eventually remove the receiver from the top of the fuselage? Or just keep them out there and they'll phase out naturally as aircraft are sold and replaced by newer models (like the MAX eventually)?
The live TV antenna and dome is being removed and patched, and a new antenna and dome is being installed for the connect system. If you see a connect airplane (many of the -800's) you'll see it is a different shape.
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Great to hear about the new Westjet seatback entertainment system. It pretty much brings them in line with Air Canada's plus the opportunity to buy internet. The old one was one of the things that put them way below Air Canada in my books.
Great to hear about the new Westjet seatback entertainment system. It pretty much brings them in line with Air Canada's plus the opportunity to buy internet. The old one was one of the things that put them way below Air Canada in my books.
Except it's not seatback?
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Was on one of these yesterday, and it's definitely nice. Glad I looked up the fin number before I left and checked on Flyertalk, then pre-installed the Westjet app on my Nexus before heading to the airport. Worked great and was pretty zippy.
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Mainly it's just annoying that the new system requires you to have a device to watch it on.
If they kept a seat back TV with the new selection of shows (ie air canada's) then w/e, I could not care - but now they are removing the ability to watch tv/movies without a tablet and I'm not paying for a tablet for what works out to like 2 flights a year.
The current TV's were the reason I chose westjet to do victoria - calgary.. guess I will just go with whoever has the cheapest flights now.
And to those saying it's costing them lots of money - is that because now they are going to switch out what they have on their current fleet with this new system? Then you can't argue that this move is to not make them money, it's their choice to change systems to a system that will earn them more revenue.
Also when companies make these changes - it's to make money. It's a stupid argument to say they are not changing the system to increase profits. No CEO, or board, or companies responsible to shareholders would spend this much money, or change systems to not increase their revenue. (and earn the money back in what they spend to change) So in the end of the day - the switch is to make more money.
I don't know how much their current live TV system costs them (and how much it impacts their profit), but most of their planes right now have TV's, why not keep the TV's, and have the selected programming available through there (ie Air Canada's) - they would still be able to get rid of the extra weight for antenna's. And you know we aren't going to see any ticket reductions on fuel reductions (if any) there are from removing the extra antenna box at the top of the plane, and removal of the seat back tvs.
So if your argument is that by offering a better service it will encourage more people to fly on WJ then you are correct, it is hoped that it will pay for the expense. But it isn't to force everyone to pay for a mostly free service.
You are right that it is designed around people travelling with their own device, phone, tablet, computer. The reality is most people already do travel with something, and if you are one of the very few that don't then sorry.
The problem with seat back tv's was poor reliability, and high maintenance costs to repair the system, or unserviceable tvs or audio jacks. The other big issue besides those direct costs was when people would get on the aircraft and either the system or their individual TV or audio jack wasn't working, it was poor customer service.....over promising and under delivering.
So now people can use their own, functioning device, and we just have to try to ensure that the system is working, hopefully most of the time. And no geographic limits, where's the TV system would lose signal anywhere beyond Canadian borders.
On longer flights, there are tablets to rent, but of course this is a cost.
There is a similar antenna to the live TV one, so there no expected fuel reductions due to that, but there will be due to the reduced weight with no seat backs tvs. You are right that the pennies per passenger won't be directly reduced off of each ticket, as airplane tickets aren't a 'cost+X%' pricing model. They are largely a commodity based on supply and demand.
So while it is unfortunate if you are part of the small percentage that don't travel with a device of any sort, for the vast majority it is expected to be a better system. I hope that provides some insight into why WJ went this direction.
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Oddly enough, most people I know who travel casually or not often, their only device capable of watching anything on is a smartphone and who wants to use that. I know few people who own a tablet or who are willing to bring a laptop on their travels. For me on the other hand, while I have a tablet, I typically don't bring it with me as I have no need for it at my destination.
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Last edited by BlackArcher101; 08-15-2015 at 01:03 PM.
Personally I hate all these tablet based solutions as it requires you to put your tray down unless you want to hold your own device (giggity). Which is terribad given that with reduced seat pitch it's cramped enough as it is.
What airlines need to to to make this palatable is have some sort of "slot" high up on the seat in front of you to put your device into. (giggity again)
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Personally I hate all these tablet based solutions as it requires you to put your tray down unless you want to hold your own device (giggity). Which is terribad given that with reduced seat pitch it's cramped enough as it is.
What airlines need to to to make this palatable is have some sort of "slot" high up on the seat in front of you to put your device into. (giggity again)
MacGyver your own stand/hanger! (By the way, highly recommend watching this guys channel, hilarious)
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Although not ideal, I'd take a smartphone resolution over that of the seat back systems. The screen may be slightly smaller on a smart phone, but those little seat back TVs really aren't good.
But this is coming from a guy who brings my own entertainment, even if it is on my smart phone, and rarely even turns the in flight system on - even for long flights.
Kind of a dumb question, but is there a way of differentiating planes based on looks?
I mean, I get that a 777 is longer than a 737, but do they look different? The 787 has the weird engine edges, which makes it easy to pick out. Anything else that I can refer to when seeing planes in the sky?
Boeing dramatically differ from Airbus in any visual ways aside from the 747/A380?
There are so many distinguishing features between different airliners that I don't think I want to start listing them all here.
Just based on your example of a 777 versus a 737. So much more than the 777 being longer. It's wider, sits higher off the ground, has engines that are pretty much the size of the 737's fuselage, has a flat tail cone versus a rounded one, triple bogey main gears.
With practice you can also start to tell the differences between different versions of the same aircraft. Such as telling the difference between a 737-700 and 800 series (the 800 is longer). Or a 777-200 versus a 777-200LR (raked wingtips).
This page lets you view different aircraft types based on where the engines are on the plane, might be a good place to start and gather info:
When I was a kid I had a copy of Jane's Civilian Aircraft that had all the airliners in it. I would obsess over it and just soak up all the info and pictures for the different types. I'm sure there are books like that still around too.
Last edited by Bigtime; 08-20-2015 at 01:02 PM.
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That's actually pretty helpful, thanks Bigtime! Yesterday around 6:30 PM I saw what looked like a larger Air Canada plane taking off from YYC, but I could only guess as to what it was (I was guessing 767)...now I'll be able to actually double check my guess.
=Bigtime;5399643
When I was a kid I had a copy of Jane's Civilian Aircraft that had all the airliners in it. I would obsess over it and just soak up all the info and pictures for the different types. I'm sure there are books like that still around too.
Thanks Bigtime!
I know what my 13 yr old is getting as a stocking stuffer come Christmastime.
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