United Airlines Sues Gec-Marconi Over Boeing 777 In-Flight Systems
It was touted as “the most advanced in-flight entertainment service system in the world.” It would fly on the newest, most advanced aircraft in the world, Boeing’s 777.
Passengers flying long distances on United Airlines’ 34 new 777s would have video screens at every seat. They would be able to choose among movies, 24 channels of CD-quality audio, play a large array of video games. They could electronically order - and pay for - duty-free goods from their seats, even check their e-mail.
By being so far beyond what was available on any other airline or aircraft, the system was supposed to enhance the prestige of United, the Boeing Co. and system maker GEC-Marconi Inflight Systems.
Today, four years after United awarded the contract to the British-based General Electric subsidiary, the $100 million system is a bust.
Well, not a complete bust. The video and audio parts of the package, installed on the 14 777s Boeing has delivered to United so far, get high marks from passengers. But other parts aren’t so good, and are being ripped. United is suing GEC-Marconi, and GEC-Marconi has decided to abandon its vaunted system altogether.
The GEC-Marconi system’s problems were the talk of the World Airline Entertainment Association’s (WAEA) annual trade show in Seattle last week, where vendors from throughout the world hoped to assure airline buyers that their systems would work.
A rumor at the show had it that GEC-Marconi was getting out of in-flight entertainment entirely, but a company representative denied that Friday. In fact, the company is placing a forward-looking video system on new 777s acquired by the state-owned airline of the United Arab Emirates.
But United’s experience, many said, has eroded the airlines’ confidence that sophisticated in-flight entertainment is ready for prime time.
“It’s hurt everybody” said James Riner, vice president of engineering for TNCI, a Georgia-based Internet service provider that is trumpeting its new in-flight Internet system.
As originally envisioned, the GEC-Marconi system was supposed to provide:
Six multilanguage video channels;
An array of arcade-style and classic video games;
Electronic maps displaying your aircraft’s exact position, the layout of your destination airport and even a map of your destination city;
Electronic catalogs, permitting you to order merchandise that would be waiting for you when you arrived at your destination;
Telephones - including modem connectors - at every seat;
24 channels of CD-quality audio.
And it was supposed to be ready May 17, 1995 - the day United took delivery of its first 777.
Fifteen months later, only the video and audio work reliably. The interactive features don’t work at all. United has yanked the phones out of every seat and installed wall phones as an interim measure.
“I’ve got over 3,000 handsets … in a bunch of boxes that I don’t know what to do with right now,” said Gordon McKinzie, United’s representative to Boeing on new-airplane development.
At the recent trade show, TNCI and many other vendors were emphasizing that at the heart of their systems is off-the-shelf software, such as Windows 95 and Netscape. Unlike GEC-Marconi, they wouldn’t be completely inventing the wheel.
McKinzie said even United is more cautious than it was. “They’re all neat,” he said of the exhibits at the trade show, “but like the (GEC-Marconi) thing, you want to see some in action first before you buy into them.”
McKinzie said he is very impressed with the parts of the system that do work.
“The movies are very sharp and clear, and the audio is beautiful. But if you’re looking for that next step of functionality, it’s just not there. And that’s what we contracted for.”
United’s current problem is what to do with its 15th and 16th 777s.
The first 14 of the 34 777s United bought - which were all supposed to feature the entertainment system - are fully equipped. But GEC-Marconi has abandoned production of the line it was putting in the 777s, including making spare parts.
“There’s just nothing else in the pipeline, including spares,” said United’s McKinzie. “So you have to be very careful what you do with your last two airplanes. If we fully outfit them - and we could - there wouldn’t be any spares out there” to fix problems that occur on the first 14 planes. United will have to find another vendor to fully equip the remaining 20 777s on order and to replace the telephone system on its existing 777s.
United passengers, for the most part unaware of how far short of the promise the system falls, seem pleased with the video and audio, according to accounts posted on the Internet by those who have flown United’s 777s.
What they object to are the bulky electronic boxes under each seat that help drive the system.
“Adequate foot space is more important than entertainment on a long trans-Atlantic flight,” wrote one Net surfer on the alt.rec.travel news group.
The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Scripps-McClatchy Western Service