Hawaiian Airlines to Offer iPad Minis as In-Flight Entertainment

But..... The new ipad minis are coming out ? Why can't they wait for retina ?

Smart idea. Great business for Apple too. That's an expensive purchase...

Hawaiian is one of the last great US airlines. Service like it used to be. And it looks like it's about to get even better.

Love this airline!

I flew Hawaiian to Oahu back in April. The pilot braked in the middle of the runway during takeoff because one of the engines wasn't taking in air. Then the plane behind us almost hit us while taking off. Then we unboarded and sat at LAX for 6 hours before they told us the plane would be grounded until next morning. They ended up putting everyone in a crappy airport hotel to wait until 4 am. Crappiest beginning I've ever had to a vacation.

I'd rather fly Alaska. They give you free mai tais when you land.

Liquorpuki said:

I flew Hawaiian to Oahu back in April. The pilot braked in the middle of the runway during takeoff because one of the engines wasn't taking in air. Then the plane behind us almost hit us while taking off. Then we unboarded and sat at LAX for 6 hours before they told us the plane would be grounded until next morning. They ended up putting everyone in a crappy airport hotel to wait until 4 am. Crappiest beginning I've ever had to a vacation.

I'd rather fly Alaska. They give you free mai tais when you land.

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i rather get delayed a day than to have a plane fall from the sky due to engine failure. I say that's a good move, realizing that there is a problem with the plane and landing it. Might have saved your life.

Give the people a distraction...

Give them distraction from poor service, pop a shiny red crispy fruit brand gadget on their laps and in their palms and away you go, getting away with crap service anywhere. But 10, 000 of these today and make your business seem more friendly. Make sure you use a lot of hand sanitizers cow-pokers. Enjoy your over priced vacation!

DBZmusicboy01 said:

But..... The new ipad minis are coming out ? Why can't they wait for retina ?

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Because they got a clear-out deal…..?

vpro said:

Give them distraction from poor service, pop a shiny red crispy fruit brand gadget on their laps and in their palms and away you go, getting away with crap service anywhere. But 10, 000 of these today and make your business seem more friendly. Make sure you use a lot of hand sanitizers cow-pokers. Enjoy your over priced vacation!

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Are you just desperate trying to say something negative about any Apple customer, or do you have a specific complaint about Hawaiian Airlines? Any personal experience with their service?

japanime said:

Hawaiian is one of the last great US airlines. Service like it used to be. And it looks like it's about to get even better.

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I take it then that the other poster that I quoted doesn't have a clue what they are talking about?

Squilly said:

Smart idea. Great business for Apple too. That's an expensive purchase...

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Let's say 150 iPads on an airplane. Total weight about 100 pound. You lose 150 other displays, you lose the equipment that can stream from a central hard drive to 150 displays and all the related cabling. The cabling will be particularly awful in an airplane. I'd think they get great savings in weight and in cost.

Djtrackie said:

i rather get delayed a day than to have a plane fall from the sky due to engine failure. I say that's a good move, realizing that there is a problem with the plane and landing it. Might have saved your life.

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I'm sure it did save my life. I got nothing bad to say about the pilot

But maintenance crews not catching the engine failure before he was flooring it on the runway was bad. That 6 hr dead time where they weren't telling us what was going on was bad. Same with refusing to reimburse anyone for booked condos, prepaid excursions, etc

I'm an aviation aficionado. I just had to respond to these.

Liquorpuki said:

I flew Hawaiian to Oahu back in April. The pilot braked in the middle of the runway during takeoff because one of the engines wasn't taking in air. Then the plane behind us almost hit us while taking off. Then we unboarded and sat at LAX for 6 hours before they told us the plane would be grounded until next morning. They ended up putting everyone in a crappy airport hotel to wait until 4 am. Crappiest beginning I've ever had to a vacation.

I'd rather fly Alaska. They give you free mai tais when you land.

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If the plane behind you almost hit you then that's a very serious offense and one that would not have gone unnoticed by the FAA, NTSB, and local air traffic control. If engine failure occurred during takeoff, all traffic would be halted until your plane was completely clear of the runway, at which time the plane behind you would then proceed to takeoff provided the runway is clear of debris. Despite all that, if the plane behind you did nearly hit you, I'd be more than interested to find the reports on this. Lots of engine failures are also undetectable on the ground: they can be from anything to old parts, to disrupted airflow because of rain, hail, etc., or a number of things that can't be foreseen.

Djtrackie said:

i rather get delayed a day than to have a plane fall from the sky due to engine failure. I say that's a good move, realizing that there is a problem with the plane and landing it. Might have saved your life.

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Engine failure in flight doesn't guarantee a plane will fall out of the sky unless the engine violently exploded and even then it could still keep flying. This has happened but it is rare (a recent incident being that Qantas A380 a few years ago where the pilot still managed to land safely). The everyday compressor stall won't bring a plane down. Most aircraft, including quad-jets, can fly on 1 engine. Typically engine failure means the pilot will quickly land at a nearby airport at which point the flight will get delayed a day anyway, like you stated.

To add something to the article: I'd guess they didn't wait for the iPad Mini 2 because they've probably already been planning around the current iPad mini for months and months, and a new release is too unimportant for them to disrupt their service schedule.

Squilly said:

Smart idea. Great business for Apple too. That's an expensive purchase...

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Of course, 1500 is a small purchase compared to larger airlines, and the size factor is small for first class as well.

For example, United Airlines bought 11,000 iPads for its pilots.

American Airlines bought 10,000 iPads for its pilots, and 6,000 Galaxy Tab 10.1s for its mechanics and first class passengers. AA also bought 17,000 8" Galaxy Notes for its flight attendants to keep in their aprons & pockets. That's 33,000 tablets in all.

Delta Airlines... well, they're the strangest story of all. They got hit with a $750,000 fine for not treating bumped passengers well, but negotiated a deal where over half of that fine would be used to buy tablets for their own gate agents, so they could keep better track and be more helpful. Nice punishment!

Another reason why flying Hawaiian is the best. Always have such a great time on their flights and now it's easier for those who want some iPad love during their flight.

I flew Air Canada Rouge from Athens to Toronto a few weeks ago... Older 767, with no in flight entertainment system in the seats, and an 11 hour flight.

The alternative was to use the Air Canada App (Which you better have downloaded and installed before stepping on the aircraft), then you can watch/listen to all the stuff they have on you iOS or Android device. They technically said it could work thru browser, but wasn't having any luck on the iOS7 Safari, running in to DRM issues.

You could rent a full size iPad.. $10 CAD.

Oh, and I'll point out... 11 hours, and no way to charge anything from the seats. Looks like they'll be bumping up the service to $5 now.
http://www.aircanada.com/en/about/rouge/entertainment.html

Add wifi. I fly back and forth between the west coast and Maui often. I fly both Alaskan and Hawaiian. Wifi is what's missing. I would choose one carrier over the other if one offered wifi.

This is way better than the PTVs on American 777(-200)s. These PTVs are not even on demand, and the screens are all CRTs.

No internet is not the airlines fault

iTiki said:

Add wifi. I fly back and forth between the west coast and Maui often. I fly both Alaskan and Hawaiian. Wifi is what's missing. I would choose one carrier over the other if one offered wifi.

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Unfortunately the best option for internet is using a ground based system. This is what most all airlines use in the continental US. However when you go outside of this area the only option is satelitte internet which is basically about the speed of double dial up for a plane of almost 300 people. It just isnt possible to get enough bandwidth out over the ocean.

pk7 said:

If the plane behind you almost hit you then that's a very serious offense and one that would not have gone unnoticed by the FAA, NTSB, and local air traffic control.

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So true. I have a feeling what actually happened was Liquorpuki's plane taxied to a turnout at the end of the runway, and the next plane was cleared for takeoff. I've had this happen twice on flights I've been on, and both times the noise from the next plane taking off was extremely loud. I can see how it might sound like a much closer call than it actually was.

I fly about 75,000 miles per year, and let me tell you it's a drag when things don't go as planned. But I promise that the folks at the airline are trying their best to get your plane out on time. Sometimes it doesn't work out.

Man, I have to go to Australia with my wife and two kids (5 and 7) - I could do with a couple of minis for them to use on the plane!

Squilly said:

Smart idea. Great business for Apple too. That's an expensive purchase...

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I'd be willing to bet these minis are thousands (each) less than the in-flight systems embedded in seat backs on other airlines and less expensive to maintain. But the gamble is whether people will need to rent them b/c they have their own. However $15 is a decent price being loaded up with movies. I wonder if it also includes internet too.

But.... Quantas has been using full size iPad's for a long time now. Probably since early 2012. Everybody has one in their seat pocket and you can use it whenever. Although- whenever the pilot speaks, they do pause whatever you are doing. They have an assortment of games, apps, videos and music pre-loaded onto them. They don't have full internet access, but there is some recent readable news, and a stock ticker. They even have these nice cases that you can use to attach them to the seat in front of you, similar to where a built in system would be.

One definite plus- the audio doesn't suck, like most on air entertainment systems.
Negative- they are based in Australia. Jonnysods, this will be good for you!

DBZmusicboy01 said:

But..... The new ipad minis are coming out ? Why can't they wait for retina ?

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Because the airline wants to save a bit of money and doesn't necessarily need to provide the latest model iPads to its customers? Since the iPad Mini is imminent, I bet you that Apple gave Hawaiian Airlines a sweet discount for purchasing hundreds of the last-years-model iPad Mini. In other words... Apple is trying to get rid of remaining inventory. And what better way to do that than to sell hundreds at a time to large corporate clients like a national airline?

This is going to make that seat back video system seem like total garbage. It would be hard going back.

I've always had a hard time hearing well on aircraft with my iPad. I need the headphones on the highest volume to drown out cabin noise. I guess I'll have to get a good pair of cans or in-ear sealing ones. The Apple earbuds just don't seem to cut it on airplanes for me.