In-flight Entertainment 737-800

[lombawest]

I fly regularly between Perth and Darwin, flight time between 3.5 and 4 hours on a 737-800. Used to always have personal in-flight entertainment however the last couple swings its varied and sometimes do and sometimes dont. flights are always the same day, same times, 3 and 1 weeks apart

How does qantas determine which routes have entertainment and which dont? It doesnt seem right that 4 hour flight doesnt have entertainment sometimes yet a mate of mine who flfo between karatha and perth says they have a 737 with personal entertainment where flight time is just over an hour and a half.

Not complaining, just curious. Be happy to pay for business upgrades but they dont have personal entertainment either :/

 

[Captain Halliday]

I fly regularly between Perth and Darwin, flight time between 3.5 and 4 hours on a 737-800. Used to always have personal in-flight entertainment however the last couple swings its varied and sometimes do and sometimes dont. flights are always the same day, same times, 3 and 1 weeks apart

How does qantas determine which routes have entertainment and which dont? It doesnt seem right that 4 hour flight doesnt have entertainment sometimes yet a mate of mine who flfo between karatha and perth says they have a 737 with personal entertainment where flight time is just over an hour and a half.

Not complaining, just curious. Be happy to pay for business upgrades but they dont have personal entertainment either :/

I can't explain the decision making but only ~50% of the QF737 fleet has IFE. The most likely answer is that it's random.

I'm a regular BNE-DRW aand vv and the retirement of the 767 means that sector only has IFE about half the time. The iPads had their problems but we're better than nothing. BYOD gives VA a substantial competitive advantage IMHO.

 

[lombawest]

I see. I was under impression most the fleet would have IFE, guess not!
Macbook it is then I guess..

 

[mannej]

I see. I was under impression most the fleet would have IFE, guess not!
Macbook it is then I guess..

You are correct, the whole 737 fleet for QF does have IFE, but not all of them have personal IFE. The drop down screens are a form of IFE are they not?

I guess a lot of it comes down to QF's fleet requirements as to which aircraft goes where.

If you want to check the patterns, you always have access to this site - The QANTAS Source - QANTAS Route Tracker.

 

[eminere]

How does qantas determine which routes have entertainment and which dont?

Luck of the draw.

 

[samh004]

BYOD gives VA a substantial competitive advantage IMHO.

I was under the impression a system like this would be coming to the QF fleet sooner rather than later.

 

[Captain Halliday]

I was under the impression a system like this would be coming to the QF fleet sooner rather than later.

Indeed. Perhaps I should say, "a competitive advantage for now".

 

[samh004]

Indeed. Perhaps I should say, "a competitive advantage for now".

I did try the VA service earlier this year and thought it was great. And I e used QF's iPads a few times and also think they're great. What QF need to do now is roll out the wifi system to all aircraft ASAP.

 

[clazman]

Would it be fair to suggest FIFO flights get the better aircraft.. purely because they make a lot more coin per seat... eg Per - Port Hedland @$1000 return

 

[under the radar]

have read on another site the 737 refurb program has now started... AND the refurbs will be done in SYD and BNE.. VH-VXR entered BNE maintenance 3 days ago...each refurb to take up to 2weeks per a/c and as stated by QF, the whole 737 refit program should be completed in 12months

 

[samh004]

have read on another site the 737 refurb program has now started... AND the refurbs will be done in SYD and BNE.. VH-VXR entered BNE maintenance 3 days ago...each refurb to take up to 2weeks per a/c and as stated by QF, the whole 737 refit program should be completed in 12months

This is to add wifi-IFE-streaming and reduce the size or the rear toilets to fit an extra row of seats?

 

[under the radar]

This is to add wifi-IFE-streaming and reduce the size or the rear toilets to fit an extra row of seats?

Yep..along with galley modifications etc....as per the press release on QANTAS.COM

 

[Mattg]

I do think that the longer routes generally get priority when it comes to the 737s with personal IFE, e.g. PER-CBR seems to get one most of the time. But it's never guaranteed and is random, to a degree.

 

[Captain Halliday]

This is to add wifi-IFE-streaming and reduce the size or the rear toilets to fit an extra row of seats?

Strewth the toilets can't get much smaller! I'm not a big bloke and I find them small already.

 

[RickyT84]

Would it be fair to suggest FIFO flights get the better aircraft.. purely because they make a lot more coin per seat... eg Per - Port Hedland @$1000 return

The short answer is no. Three out of four QF flights between PER and PHE today were operated by the VX* series aircraft.

This supports the view that the 73H fleet is allocated to flights based on operational requirements and not tired to flight lengths.

 

[JohnK]

have read on another site the 737 refurb program has now started... AND the refurbs will be done in SYD and BNE.. VH-VXR entered BNE maintenance 3 days ago...each refurb to take up to 2weeks per a/c and as stated by QF, the whole 737 refit program should be completed in 12months

Oh goody. Backgammon here we come! I may just keep my pre-allocated 6D or even move to 5D at T-80 hours.