In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity Innovations

The first flight of airship Hindenburg offered passengers facilities like piano, lounge, dining room, smoking room and bar during a two and a half day flight between Europe and 1 America. It was in 1936 and since then, the Holy Grail for airlines and aircraft manufacturers has been to provide home like comfort and entertainment to passengers in the air. In-flight entertainment (IFE) has been an important component of this and has assumed an increasingly important role in recent times, in defining a passenger's overall flight experience. It is a 03 crucial factor in reducing the psychological and physical stress caused due to the cabin environment when flying, especially long distances without stopovers. The airline industry has recognized that IFE is one of the most important selection criteria for passengers while booking travel on a 2 particular airline. Recognizing this trend, airlines have been trying to continuously upgrade passenger's experience of in-flight entertainment, in terms of both content and how it is delivered to the passengers. While developing their IFE offerings, airlines have been striving to keep up with continuously evolving passenger expectations. This paper discusses evolving passenger expectations and how aircraft manufacturers and airlines can enhance passenger experience through in-flight entertainment 1. 04 To understand the current developments in the IFE world, it is worthwhile to look at evolution of IFE systems over the years. The evolution of IFE systems can be understood by broadly classifying it under four stages. • Embedded head-end centric v1 • Head end server for content, delivered to simple display device at the seat • Modeled on TV: multiple, limited content, allowing passenger to tune into the selected channel • Evolution: Embedded head-end centric v2 • Redundant head end server for HD content, delivered to display device at the seat over GigE or Fiber • Supporting Audio Video on Demand (AVOD), with large selection of varied content. May be prone to single-point-of-failure • Revolution: Embedded seat-centric • Slimmed down IFE systems with content stored in the Seat Display Unit (SDU). Bulk content refreshes over the network in the background • Fault-tolerant design: A non-working SDU does not affect the entire system, and may even be replaced by crew easily in the air • Disruptive: Handheld • Complete abolition of the SDU, or provisioned as an add-on to the SDU. • Wireless content update and/or streaming to airline provided on passenger's Personal Entertainment Devices (PEDs) …