American Airlines tests entertainment devices

By South Florida Business Travel by Mike Seemuth: humidity@aol.com

A hand-held entertainment-packed computer that passengers would rent may be deployed on American Airlines jets that aren`t equipped for in-flight movies by the summer of 2005.

Currently the personal entertainment device, or PED, is in the test-market phase and is being offered on a trial basis on some American flights between Fort Lauderdale and Los Angeles.

The unbranded PED has a magnetic-strip reader, allowing coach-class passengers to swipe a credit or debit card to pay a rental fee of $10 to $12 for the device that will enable them to see movies, read digital newspapers and access other entertainment offerings.

The PED -- a small, battery-powered personal computer that runs for at least five hours and 30 minutes without a recharge -- will be distributed free of charge to first-class passengers during the test.

Test marketing of the PED is aimed at filling an entertainment void on the most common type of aircraft in American`s fleet, its MD80 jets. They have no built-in, flip-down screens for in-flight entertainment.

Content, which will be regularly updated, includes ``early window`` movies that have been released in theaters but are not yet available in video or DVD formats. Also available are electronic games, television shows, musical programming, audio book excerpts and digital newspapers.

The PED test is not just an entertainment initiative but also part of American`s broader effort to start accepting credit and debit cards for a variety of in-flight purchases.

``We`re certainly moving in that direction, toward a cashless environment,`` said Mary McKee, American`s director of in-flight entertainment. ``We are going to be doing more with buy-on-board services`` that allow passengers to pay with plastic.

For example, rental headsets and food are among the targets for cashless transactions in the air. [American plans to start selling food in the main cabin on long domestic flights Feb. 1, initially accepting cash only, but ``is investigating the ability to accept credit and debit cards in the future.``]

Any system-wide deployment of the PED would begin on MD80s, which make up more than half of American`s fleet. Then, McKee said, the airline will look at other other fleet types ``to see if it makes sense.``

Passengers flying in and out of Fort Lauderdale may help American decide whether to offer PED rentals aboard Boeing 757s and other jets equipped with in-flight entertainment systems.

The airline will be able to see if passengers forgo free in-flight entertainment and rent a PED for $10 or more because of the more abundant content offerings on the hand-held device.

And while in-flight entertainment is free on American`s larger jets, renting a headset carries a price tag. Recently, American Airlines raised the price for reusable audio headsets for standard in-flight entertainment from $2 to $5.

American began to test the demand for PED rentals on select Boeing 757 flights between Fort Lauderdale and Los Angeles last week, and the test will continue until Jan. 24. Then the PED will be offered on 757 flights between Fort Lauderdale and New York`s LaGuardia airport until Feb. 5.

Already, the PED has been test-marketed in Chicago, Dallas and Seattle, mostly on MD80 flights.

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