Photo: atosan( Getty)
And once again airlines are finding new ways to annoy their customers.
The next time you go on an eight-hour flight somewhere you may not have the luxury of watching Liam Neeson’s latest movie on the small TV screen in front of you. In fact, you may not be able to watch anything as it seems airlines are starting to ditch the seatback TV screens. But why? Well it appears it’s all to save money as according to The New York Times each screen costs about $10,000 to install.
Airlines also are trying to convince its customers that removing the screens will help make the seats more streamlined. Here’s what travel industry analyst Henry Hateveldt had to say about the change:
“Some airlines are looking at this from the standpoint of cost savings by removing the hardware. They reduce the weight of the aircraft, and they reduce the expense associated with maintaining that equipment.”
But what can we do so we don’t feel like we’re being bent over when we pay a luggage fee?
Qantas has made this move on some of their domestic aircrafts. On these planes, screens hang from the ceiling instead of being individually set into each seat. As well as this, customers are able to stream their own films through their official Entertainment App.
Delta Airlines has also announced plans to divert inflight entertainment to passengers’ personal devices. Thankfully, they have assured that TV shows and films will still be available for them to stream. American and United airlines are reportedly also phasing out the TV screens on short-haul flights.
Many people aren’t happy with the change as one person on Twitter said this:
Boo!! I hate the idea. Since it’s probably a cost issue, I’d rather have them charge me for more food and allow me to continue watching movies and shows.
— Evert Zelaya (@ev_zelaya) January 2, 2018
And another said this:
I also read the fold out trays will be used to seat additional passengers
— Dave P. Manning (@paledevilmoon) January 2, 2018
Burn.
Well, look at it this way: now we have more time to read books or awkwardly try and talk to the person next to you before you realize that you actually hate people.
