iPods and netbooks cause losses to airlines

Airlines around the world spend millions of dollars annually upgrading their in-flight entertainment systems, but all that could be rendered by iPods and other mobile entertainment gadgets. UBS ports and a power socket which are increasingly common even for economy class passengers on carriers such as Singapore Airlines Ltd and Cathay Pacific Airlines Ltd could change the concept of in-flight entertainment.

Delta Air Lines Inc has begun offering an Internet connection on board, allowing passengers to continue tweeting and updating their Facebook status instead of flipping channels on the IFE system.

This content is called customization, where passengers are no longer limited to an airline's offerings in their in-flight entertainment systems and are able to pick and choose what they want to watch or do on board a flight. Airlines, already badly hit by weak demand for air travel and volatile jet fuel prices, are likely to welcome the move, as it would allow them to save on costs such as fuel burned, regular engineering checks, and licensing fees to movie studios and maintenance fees.

More and more airline passengers take netbook PCs and other mobile entertainment devices such as Apple Inc's iPod and other MP3 players with them when they travel. This could also hasten IFE's demise.

Possibilities include venturing into providing advertisers with an entrance into a space that has long been seen as the last bastion of a commercial-free world, broadcasting ads on large screens to a captive audience. However, such a plan could backfire.