Qantas Inflight Entertainment System

[pagan]

I just returned from a trip to the US flying Syd - Lax then return Sfo - Syd.
On the flight over the interactive part of the inflight system was broken inc the phone then on the return the system was broken completely in the seat I had (locked up) and once again the phone was completely broken for all.

Is this just my bad luck or it this system just crap?

What are other peoples experiences?

I was completely unimpressed on all counts

Cheers

Pagan

 

[Mal]

Hi pagan, welcome to AFF.

Do you know if the planes you were on had AVOD (Audio-Visual On Demand)? (The difference is AVOD allows you to pause/rewind/Fast forward etc films, whereas the normal systems are just a loop of ~2.5 hour videos).

Qantas has had many teething problems with their rollout of this new AVOD system. They are being resolved though... Slowly.

As for the phones being on the blink, this can happen depending on where a plane is in the sky. I believe the satellite systems they use have certain ranges and the phones will not work outside those coverage zones. Not entirely sure though as I don't use the inflight phones, nor generally care if they are operative or not.

If you feel strongly about your issues with the entertainment/phones not working, I do recommend that you complain to Qantas Customer Care. As a flyer, I think entertainment is actually something you pay for and expect, so it not working is legitimate grounds for complaint.

 

[pagan]

Hi Mal,

To be honest I'm not sure if it was an AVOD. Certainly on the way over there was an error saying the interactive part of the system was out of service (can't recall exactly what it said) but you could still watch them. None of the games etc were available etc .... ie you could only choose channels 1 through 12 or whatever they are and the MAP.

On the way back the remote said '-4' in the display and the screen hence you could do nothing....they even turned it all off at one point and 'rebooted' it - whatever that really means ... because a lot of people had issues with light controls not working etc but it didn't fix my seat.....

God help us all it the bits that keep the thing in the air are a unreliable as the inflight entertainment .....

BTW the phones never worked AT ALL in either direction. Not that I really cared as I was only going to SMS the kids but it's the principal of the thing....

Cheers

Pagan

 

[JohnK]

If you feel strongly about your issues with the entertainment/phones not working, I do recommend that you complain to Qantas Customer Care. As a flyer, I think entertainment is actually something you pay for and expect, so it not working is legitimate grounds for complaint.

I would also strongly recommend that you send some feedback to QF about your experience.

I had similar problems on a flight SIN-MEL and all I could get was the flightpath, text news and a really boring movie and no games. I sent QF feedback and they promptly apologised and then gave me travel vouchers for my inconvenience.

 

[Platy]

OK, so you're on a flight with a functional entertainment system and the cabin crew decide that on the domestic shorter legs of an international service that they won't turn it for your personal viewing pleasure.

Apparently, you don't deserve to watch the channel choices because you may not understand that the movie/program selection may not be finished before you reach your destination!!!

Some are smart enough to find the radical solution of putting the system on and making an announcement pointing out that the program duration may exceed the flight duration. Others are remarkably stupid/unaware...and just can't bothered...

What utter crap (especially given the cost of business class flights)!!!

 

[Yada Yada]

To be honest I'm not sure if it was an AVOD. Certainly on the way over there was an error saying the interactive part of the system was out of service (can't recall exactly what it said) but you could still watch them. None of the games etc were available etc .... ie you could only choose channels 1 through 12 or whatever they are and the MAP.

Pagan - My experience is that this is actually quite typical. On all QF international flights I've done this year, this has been the case - the menu system is non-operational so you have to scroll through the channels manually and the games are not available. On one flight after a complaint they announced that would reboot the system to see if this fixed it, and I was about 45 mins into a movie (albeit a bad one :-| ) but it had no effect and the system was still crippled.

I've yet to be on a QF flight with AVOD. I think it's a myth! (Alright, I know it's not but they are pretty rare IME).

 

[JohnK]

I've yet to be on a QF flight with AVOD. I think it's a myth! (Alright, I know it's not but they are pretty rare IME).

The A330 BNE-SIN has AVOD and it has worked everytime I have used that route. I tend to think that cattle class seats on an A330 are a little better than cattle class seats on a B747 also.

 

[Yada Yada]

I tend to think that cattle class seats on an A330 are a little better than cattle class seats on a B747 also.

I've flown the A330-200 SYD-PER and found the WHY seats better on that aircraft too, compared with the 767-300's.

 

[madmat777]

Hi Mal,

BTW the phones never worked AT ALL in either direction. Not that I really cared as I was only going to SMS the kids but it's the principal of the thing....

On a recent RTW I flew on QF metal from SIN to FRA, my AVOD was fine (in J)but the grummpy german next to me could not get his working. Add to that a 2 hour delay leaving SIN, because of the plane leaking 1 tonne of av gas on the tarmac, and he was a real joy to sit next to.

Again LAX to BNE was on QF metal and they rebooted the system twice. Most of the plane was not working. Again mine was fine (in J again) so it did not really bother me.

It seems they may be having some problems with it - it is a great system when it works, but perhaps they rolled it out too soon.

Matt.

 

[Nightwatchman]

I had the inflight entertainment system pack-up on a flight from Singapore last year.

That wasn't so bad - what was worse that all the cabin lighting in business class came on and they couldn't turn it off! We flew back through the night to Sydney with the cabin fully (and very brightly) lit.

The eye mask struggling to keep out the dazzling light.

 

[oz_mark]

BTW the phones never worked AT ALL in either direction. Not that I really cared as I was only going to SMS the kids but it's the principal of the thing....

Are the phone parts of the system actually operational?

 

[Yada Yada]

Are the phone parts of the system actually operational?

Yes, I've used them before, and also the phones on BA which look identical.

 

[flyer4703]

Flew HKG - LHR and HKG - SYD last week on AVOD equipped 747's the system had to be rebooted on both flights and still didn't work.
Was rebooted on one sector when I was at 30 minutes into an interesting program after rebooting that program dissapeared
Great system when it does work, seems to be more reliable on the A330's in my experience.

 

[NM]

Great system when it does work, seems to be more reliable on the A330's in my experience.

Hmm, that is an interesting report. According to a 744 FA (F cabin), she believed the newer installations on the 744 fleet were more reliable than the original installations on the A330 fleet due to some upgrades included from Rockwell Collins on the 744 system.

But then again, as a 744 F cabin FA she may be biased! I have not flown on enough QF AVOD-equipped flights to make my own judgement about reliability and so can only go by the comments from others based on their experience. Thanks for posting your experience.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

My personal 100% rate on the QF avod system has been maintained. 100% of flights that have it the avod has not worked properly.

Even the FAs are getting sick of apologising to pax for it. I realise these are complex systems and teething problems are expected but this level and the length of time to still not fix it is ridiculuous. My experiences with avod on SQ, NZ and CX; while not perfect; have been far better than with QF.

 

[vt01]

My personal 100% rate on the QF avod system has been maintained. 100% of flights that have it the avod has not worked properly.

Even the FAs are getting sick of apologising to pax for it. I realise these are complex systems and teething problems are expected but this level and the length of time to still not fix it is ridiculuous. My experiences with avod on SQ, NZ and CX; while not perfect; have been far better than with QF.

I've personally had about 95% success rate.. Although other passengers on my flights, including the entire economy cabin have had problems. The guy next to me had the menu problems. I think they reset his individual screen.

The worst case of inoperative aircraft facilities I've had was nothing in the galley working on a flight from Darwin to Perth via Alice that left Darwin at 6 am.. No coffee!! They couldn't even fix it in Alice...

 

[acampbel]

QF1 today - no menu system on the left side of the plane in forward economy cabin .... but at least the movies and radio worked. There always seems to be some problem with it, so perhaps they should bin it and just hand out a DVD or PSP to each person at the door.

 

[jenno]

mid-last year flying PER-SYD on one of Qantas' international A330-300's i was excited to have my own tv for this domestic run. after about an hour my AVOD system packed it in along with about half of the plane. they tried resetting it twice (the whole plane's IFE) but to no avail.

interestingly when it was rebooting it starts with a dos-style text and you could see the systems run on windows ce .... could help explain the frequent crashing!

 

[Commuter]

On the flight over the interactive part of the inflight system was broken inc the phone then on the return the system was broken completely in the seat I had (locked up) and once again the phone was completely broken for all.

Did you get any freebies? When I encountered a similar problem and they couldn't re-seat me due to full flight, they gave me a bottle of champagne (a proper one) to take home as an apology. I didn't even really complain - I was merely letting them know.

Considering I sleep most of the time on the flight, I think I prefer the freebie bottle to the IFE

 

[acampbel]

Did you get any freebies? When I encountered a similar problem and they couldn't re-seat me due to full flight, they gave me a bottle of champagne (a proper one) to take home as an apology. I didn't even really complain - I was merely letting them know.

Considering I sleep most of the time on the flight, I think I prefer the freebie bottle to the IFE

On the same flight that I mentioned above, the passenger in the seat in front of me had a horizontal hold problem with their screen. They didn't try to switch it off and on again, but did complain to the FA. The passenger beside them suggest some sort of $ recompense, which the FA brushed off, and then after she suggested toggling the unit the screen came up properly (although sans the interactive menu that we were all lacking). Fair enough, I thought, but then later on the FA came down with a duty-free bag and gave the passenger some sort of freebie.

This I found rather annoying, but I have seen this sort of thing before. When flying LHR to HGK last April there was a A/C condensation problem in the cabin. This usually happens when departing from a humid climate, but we had been delayed leaving London so maybe this caused the copious dripping from the ceiling above a couple of rows. So they got a little shower! The passengers in question (poms of course) went on and on about it to each and every FA that went past, and eventually had a hysterical whinge to the big kahuna in a tranparent attempt to get an onboard upgrade. No chance of that, but to shut them up they got a special little present for their whining!

Flippin eck! If I complained every time some little thing went wrong on a flight I wouldn't be able to carry all the pressies off the plane! I know the squeaky wheel gets the grease, but Qantas needs to think about what message they are sending to the other passengers who just get on with it. I'm not saying that deficiencies in service shouldn't be pointed out, merely that this can be done without the need to stick your hand out.