back to article Qantas to provide wireless iPad entertainment on 767s

Australia's premier airline, Qantas, will provide an iPad to each and every passenger on its fleet of Boeing 767s, beaming free in-flight entertainment using what it dubs its "QStreaming" technology. "Following the successful trial of our QStreaming service this year," Qantas Domestic CEO Lyell Strambi said in a statement, "we …

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  1. mhoulden
    Meh

    Meanwhile Ryanair will charge £20 for the use of an Etch a Sketch that you have to return at the end of the flight.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      One Etch a Sketch per aircraft too

      There will be a small delay, the man in A23 is using the Etch a Sketch to draw penises...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: One Etch a Sketch per aircraft too

        That should be 23A. The letter comes after the row number for airline seating.

    2. g.marconi

      these ipads are not FREE!

      More than one website has reported - or given the impression - that passengers get to keep these ipads.

      Naturally this is not true they are merely substitutes for the normal seatback screens that are on most

      planes these days.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: these ipads are not FREE!

        From the previous report I saw, I got that impression too.

        What next: a free hoover with every flight?

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Devil

    Fancy IFE or not...

    ...I'd rather walk across Australia than fly with Qantas. World's worst airline.

    1. Philip Lewis
      Paris Hilton

      Re: Fancy IFE or not...

      Man, you mustn't travel very often. While Quaint ass may not be the world's number one airline, it is streets ahead in every respect of a dozen I can name without thinking too hard.

      Paris: .. because there are just not enough inflight blondes these days.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Fancy IFE or not...

        Wtf? Qantas are a joke. Lazy, complacent, rude staff, old & crap planes, poor reliability, overcrowded lounges, shit food in lounges, frequent flyer programs that are frankly not worth joining etc etc

        The op was correct. I avoid Qantas like the plague. Virgin may be brash and cheap but at least they are honest and care about customer satisfaction.

        1. Philip Lewis
          FAIL

          Re: Fancy IFE or not...

          Well, having passed the 2 million air mile mark many years ago, and as one currently working in the airline industry, I adjudge my personal opinion as having merit based on wide experience and knowledge.

          If you think QANTAS is so horribly bad, it merely shows how little time you spend in commercial aircraft. This is not to say that QANTAS is objectively the world's best airline, or the worst.

          However my millions of commercial air miles suggests you are wrong. Though it is a year or two since I flew QANTAS last, they certainly do not rank on the bottom of the scale.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Mushroom

        re: Man, you mustn't travel very often

        Man, you mustn't travel very often

        At the risk of sounding like the song "I've been everywhere", I've done several decades of organising temporary and permanent multimedia installations for companies around the globe. The last time I counted I had been to over 60 countries on five continents. One example: I did a six year contract with one of the world's leading airlines that meant I traveled quite a bit with them. I also fly between Aus and the UK regularly for non-biz reasons. I can fill an extended 48 page, 10 year UK passport before it expires. I guess that means I know nothing about air travel.

        And Qantas really are crap.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Great. A bit of sudden turbulence and you get smacked in the face with a heavy bit of aluminium and glass as well as a spilt drink in your lap.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Feedback from the trial led Qantas to develop a stand that allows the iPad to be set upright on the seat-back tray or secured to the back of the seat when passengers need their hands free, such as during meal times."

      Via http://australianaviation.com.au/2012/07/qantas-moves-ahead-with-ipad-ife/

  4. thesykes
    FAIL

    what a great idea

    streaming movies to iPads... that well known tablet with a 4:3 aspect ratio... Qantas must have a shed load of old 70s TV to stream...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: what a great idea

      They have "digital newspapers and magazines, and cached web content" as the article says, all much better to read on a 4:3 screen.

    2. Droid on Droid

      Re: what a great idea

      $500 a seat which works out at probably $1 a flight for the first year. But you forget the apps and Apples licensing policy. They could spend $10k per year to add 100 apps per plane. I expect this to catch on in the airline industry, everyone knows Apple has the means and desire to support the iPad which in the enterprise is more important than technology. That $100 billion in the bank is a massive mindfuck saying "you probably won't get fired choosing the iPad or iPhone"

  5. Winkypop Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Perth, Sydney, Perth, rinse, repeat

    Oh joy, something, anything to pass the time.

  6. Michael Jennings

    The interesting part of this story is that Qantas' 767s are *old*. (We are talking more than 20 years, and in some cases quite a bit more than 20 years). They weren't fitted with entertainment systems when new, and it would cost a lot to retrofit them now in order to provide the wiring, power etc for modern aircraft entertainment systems, particularly given that the aircraft are probably only going to be in the fleet for a few more years. So providing passengers with iPads is a stopgap solution, as the iPads are light, relatively inexpensive, and have little in the way of wiring or power requirements. It's quite clever.

    1. Droid on Droid

      That's what I thought, add that it's Wifi and it seems a cheap and easy way to do what used to cost 10K plus per seat. Maintenance is chuck it in the bin or get a special apple-care deal. What I'm wondering about is recharging, I would assume Qantas needs 1 recharging for every 2-3 in use. They should have some good numbers for Apples real life battery technology.

    2. Intractable Potsherd

      Thanks. Michael,

      That answers a question I was going to post!

  7. mathew42
    Thumb Up

    A big advantage I can see for this is maintenance. Currently with back of seat entertainment systems if yours is broken your are bored for the flight. If the games don't work for the kid sitting next to you then it's torture.

    With this system, the flight attendant simply replaces the iPad. Keep 10 spare on the plane and everyone is happy.

    I agree that in seat charging is mandatory, which opens up interesting opportunities to recharge other devices in-flight.

    At least security has a high enough profile these days that the network will be separate from the flight control systems. However, I wonder about pilots playing games in flight while the auto pilot is engaged and being slightly distracted :).

  8. Jason Hindle

    It's a great idea

    And to Qantas it's probably a fraction of the cost of refitting these older aircraft with a modern, seat back AVOD system.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    QANTAS.

    QANTAS never crashed.

    1. Mako

      Re: QANTAS.

      Not true. They've just never lost a jet airliner, (though they crashed a 747 at Bangkok and later repaired it).

      1. Trevor Marshall

        Re: QANTAS.

        QANTAS - Quite A Nice Trip - All Survived

    2. Philip Lewis
      Paris Hilton

      Re: QANTAS.

      QANTAS has crashed and people died in the crash. The flight was a postal flight IIRC, about 90 years ago (I cannot be bothered to look it up).

      QANTAS has never lost a paying passenger. Which for an airline that apparently has at least 1 disaffected customer who frequents this website, that is not so bad.

      Disclaimer: QANTAS does not service the routes I commute on, so I don't fly with them so often.

      Paris: Inflight blondes again?

  10. Anonymous Coward 15
    Pirate

    Unscrupulous customer swaps own old-gen iPad for new airline iPad? H4x0r equipped with netbook/laptop installs trojan?

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