Air New Zealand apologizes for entertainment disruption on 17-hour flight, but all planes may soon be screen-free

Review: How passengers are hooked on inflight entertainment

Passengers were told to pack a book ahead of Air New Zealand’s 16.5-hour flight from Chicago to Auckland on Friday. People rush to read material after ‘technical issue’ cancels in-flight entertainment

Passengers on NZ27 were compensated $60 and advised to pick up some paperbacks to get on the plane.

The notice was sent 90 minutes before warning passengers to raid the Hudson Books at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. It’s a good day for Lee Child.

The airline advises passengers to “carry [their] own reading material and/or personal electronic devices with downloaded content”.

As flights get longer, we expect more from airlines to pass the time.

Spending 17 hours, flying overnight, across the mid-Pacific, the wonder of flying gets old quickly.

Passengers on flights this weekend said they were “driven crazy”.

One said their “only entertainment was playing with my thumb because the WI-FI at the ORD airport was too slow to download any movies.”

But since when have we become so reliant on screens to combat the chronic fatigue of long-haul flights?

It’s been almost 100 years since the in-flight movie came out. In 1925 Imperial Airways began showing silent films on their de Havilland DH 34 as passengers became restless and itinerary From London to Paris.

Passengers spend a 2.5-hour flight viewing The Lost World in 16-seat wicker chairs. Since then, airlines have tried many ways to appease anxious or bored travelers. It’s been used to combat boredom in the air for everything from music to projected movies.

In 1971, American Airlines even introduced the Wurlitzer Piano Lounge in the rear of the economy class on its 747 jumbo jets. As part of the publicity stunt, carriers have invited musicians like Frank Sinatra Junior to cheer up bored passengers. Sadly, the Sky Lounge fell silent when the airline decided to add 50 seats instead of a lounge area.

The first personal televisions appeared in the 80s.

Today, inflight entertainment has gone from novelty to one of the most expensive parts of an airplane.

Personal touchscreens are ubiquitous on long-distance travel, but few passengers are aware of the price tag. Movies, games, and even a small plane that follows you slowly across the globe are all part of a highly sophisticated and expensive entertainment package.

According to Thales, one of the world’s leading suppliers of inflight entertainment systems, the cost of equipping an aircraft with touchscreens can exceed $5 million.

“After the engine, it is the second most expensive item on the plane,” a company spokesperson told the Digital Journal.

The cabin screens are very professional, especially first class or business class.

According to the aerospace design firm, the price per aircraft is very high due to the small number of crews combined with the high electrical safety standard design required for the aircraft.

In a report from The Fast Company, they reveal the staggering cost of in-seat TVs on airplanes, “As a rule of thumb, an inch of screen will cost $1,000.”

Those cramped screens for movies where you inevitably land with a half-finished movie can cost around $10,000.

So why are airlines willing to spend so much money to keep passengers happy? Unlike water or food, airlines are not required to provide entertainment on long-haul flights. More and more airlines see entertainment as an unnecessary cost.

Some predict the era of in-flight entertainment could be over as passengers increasingly bring their own distractions.

In 2016, airline IT company SITA said 46 percent of passengers said they watched movies on their devices, compared to 44 percent who used inflight entertainment systems.

Flights are getting longer. While the return flight on Air New Zealand’s new New York-to-Auckland route is more than enough to finish War and Peace, passengers will likely be carrying more than a few airport paperbacks on board.

With the advent of in-flight Wi-Fi and passengers carrying devices filled with podcasts and downloaded videos, it predicts that aircraft may eventually eliminate entertainment screens altogether.

Don’t forget to bring a book.