This blog post was updated on August 6, 2021.
Southwest Airlines upped the ante on its in-flight entertainment with the launch of its “Destination” music series that took flight in May this year. The series is aimed at giving emerging artists from various locations the chance to open for established artists in iconic live venues. The series kicked off with “Destination: Red Rocks”, with the opportunity for talented new artists to compete with each other for the chance to open for The Fray at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado venue at the end of June. Part of the contest also required the artists to take part in an in-flight performance as part of the airline’s pre-existing “Live at 35” gigs in the sky. (Source)
Live at 35 has been a popular pop-up concert series that showcases small groups of singers and musicians who perform intimate sets for passengers, and has featured artists like Gavin DeGraw and Barenaked Ladies over the past five years, to name just a few.
But Southwest isn’t the only airline or entertainment organization that’s playing a different tune in order to keep passengers happy. Here are a few other interesting innovations that are blazing a trail in the industry:
Delta Offers Free Internet Messaging Service
Delta Airlines recently introduced free text messaging for all its passengers on board its flights, as of October 1. The service gives passengers the capability to send free messages via WiFi. The service will be provided on all aircraft enabled with Gogo Inflight Internet, which does not include its smaller regional jets. (Source)
Food at the Tap of a Finger, Promises Emirates
Dubai-based carrier Emirates has taken technology that’s highly prevalent in the food & beverage industry and turned it into an efficient way to run their own Business class dining service. While many patrons of trendy bars and restaurants may be familiar with placing their orders via a tablet or having their orders taken on a mobile phone app by a server, the same process can now be expected when flying certain flights in Emirates’ Business Class. Crew members use their hand-held devices to take orders, which are then instantly communicated to a tab in the galley, speeding up the overall service process. (Source)
Passengers Get a Virtual Peek Into Lufthansa’s Business Class
German national carrier Lufthansa also introduced an innovative way to give Economy passengers a glimpse of their Business cabins, in hopes that passengers would want to upgrade after having a sneak-peek at what awaits them. Earlier this year, the airline used virtual reality (VR) glasses at its Frankfurt Airport hub as a way to introduce Economy passengers to Premium Economy with the opportunity to upgrade right before their departure. The airline has been heavily using its VR technology over the past couple of years to give passengers 360-degree views of cabins and even the cockpit. (Source)
Netflix Looking to Stream Its Shows in More Airlines in 2018
Who you gonna call? JK don’t call because the phones are haunted by demogorgons.
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Entertainment streaming giant Netflix is also looking at getting in on in-flight entertainment in a big way. The company is now looking at partnering with more airlines in early 2018 to offer its content on board flights. While passengers now have to download their favorite shows before boarding a flight, Netflix hopes to use its mobile device encoding technology (which uses far less bandwidth than a desktop device and hence less of a strain on an aircraft’s WiFi) to bring streaming entertainment to passengers right on their hand-held devices and tablets. (Source)
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