Virgin America: new live in-flight television
Virgin America, the California-based airline that is reinventing domestic travel, unveiled a new live television line-up on its in-flight entertainment platform – Red(TM).
As of today, guests on every Virgin America flight will be able to use the Red touch-screen at their seatback to choose from a larger library of in-flight television choices – including more live sports, news and popular programming, as well as exclusive new cached content like Virgin America’s “Best of the Web” section – which features popular web-based programming.
“As a new airline that wants to re-think the typical domestic flying experience for the better, we’re constantly asking our guests to provide feedback on what’s working, what’s not and what we can do better,” said Porter Gale, Vice President of Marketing for Virgin America. “Red’s robust in-flight entertainment platform allows us the opportunity to continually improve content options based on what our flyers actually want. Our tech-forward flyers love the unique web-based content we offer and we also heard loud and clear that access to more live sports programming was key. We’re also pleased to add The CW, which will premiere Fly Girls, a docu-series following the lives of five Virgin America in-flight teammates in 2010.”
Although Virgin America continually analyzes guest feedback via the Suggestion box on every Red platform and its social media channels, earlier in 2009 the airline asked its Elevate(TM) frequent flyers for their input on the in-flight television line-up and film library.
The new line-up reflects that feedback with an eclectic mix of content – from popular sports and a “Best of the Web” section, to more Hollywood blockbusters and indie classics in the onboard film library. With innovative features like fleetwide in-flight WiFi, standard power outlets at every seat and next generation in-flight entertainment, Virgin America has quickly become the airline of choice for tech-savvy travelers.
A fall 2009 survey of the airline’s Elevate frequent flyers showed that over half of its guests carry a laptop and stay plugged in while they travel. Virgin America recently added additional flights to meet demand for flyers en route to this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
The Red platform offers the largest entertainment library in the domestic skies. In addition to a live satellite television line-up via DISH Network, cached television channels and a 25+ film library at every seat, Red offers videogames, music videos, seat-to-seat chat, 3,000 MP3s, Google Maps, seat-to-seat chat, a first-of-its-kind on-demand food menu and more.
In August 2009, Virgin America enabled software upgrades to the Linux-based Red that allowed for more content and even greater functionality and speed. In October 2009, Virgin America won the World Airline Entertainment Association’s (WAEA) Avion Award for best in-flight entertainment system.
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