Mega hands-on: Virgin America's Airbus A320 with Red in-flight entertainment
By Ryan Block 
posted Feb 10th 2007 9:06AM
posted Feb 10th 2007 9:06AM
Seatback consoles
- Linux-based with Tiny X
- VA developed Red in-flight interface
- 9-inch integrated touchscreen
- 1024 x 600 resolution (oh, so close to HD! but not quite)
- Dual internal flash drives for redundant storage of embedded OS
- One USB port and one ethernet port per seat
- USB can be used with a portable keyboard on seatback console (or to charge your device)
- Ethernet hooks you into a LAN with the rest of the passengers
- Two 110v outlets per 3-seat row (and one per seat in first class)
- Dual 802.11b WiFi access points in cabin (fore and aft)
- Sprint EV-DO uplink (for ground communications)
- Yet-unannounced in-air broadband uplink
- LED mood lighting throughout the craft
- Send email and SMS messages from your seat console
- In-cabin chats, either private (one on one), group (by invite), or common (whole plane)
- Dedicated chat rooms for each channel to discuss what's on TV
- Send food and beverage orders (and pay) directly from your console
- Galley inventory lists are transmitted wirelessly when the plane is stocked; customers are prompted when their order cannot be fulfilled due to no remaining inventory
- Streaming pay-per-view movies from on-board media server
- Over 3,000 MP3 tunes stored in on-board media server; persistent play lists (i.e. the playlist you make online or in your seat will follow you to future flights)
- Dish live TV with in-flight program guide
- Games! Open source titles (including Doom); VA will host an open source game dev competition, the best games will be added to the playable titles list.
- One system controller
- Three Dish receiver / tuner boxes
- Three redundant storage arrays for streaming audio and video -- during flight data (including CC transactions) is written only to encrypted flash
- Flight attendants can monitor traffic spikes from bandwidth-greedy users
- Seats 149 passengers (eight in first class)
- Lavatories have their own soundtrack, kind of like those chic hotels
- Prices should be "competitive" with some budget airlines
- Expected to take flight this summer (US Dept. of Transportation approval pending)
Happy Birthday.
Just wow. That is cool. I love it !!!!
Why didn't I get this when I needed it ?
OMG. I wonder what it sounds like when 200 keyboards are being typed on in a small space like that. You'll definitely need a good headset and some loud music to sleep during your flight.
Cool, but VA is not the first airline to have a similar system. I recently took a flight from Istabul to New York via Turkish airlines and they had 27 movies, over 50 episodes of TV shows, online browser, tons of games, documentaries, SMS, e-mail service, power outlets at each seat, soon to be installed ethernet ports at each seat, etc. so I don't know what advantage VA has over that? Remember, even though games and movies may be free, they charge you for SMS, email, and internet browsing, so unless VA provides all these goodies for free, gets a big "MEH" from me :) And I am pretty sure VA is going to be way more expensive than any other airline...
the advantage is that turkish airlines doesn't serve much of america and VA will.
@RohitK: your comment did show up this time ;)
Very nice photo gallery, Engadget, it made me want to fly non stop around the world (twice) in that airplane ;)
Is it just me, or does that aisle look narrower than the average American rear-end?
You know you fly to much when you see $5 for a chocolate bar and think "ooh, thats good value"!
To Kizildere,
I think the point here is that this will an airline flying domestic routes with a service (certainly in economy) comparable to and better than international services, and certainly much better than any other product offerings from competitors in the domestic segment. The airline is going to price its seats competitively and so is unlikely to be "... way more expensive than any other airline."
So the fact that your Turkish Airlines flight had a similar (but actually inferior) service is not the point here.
@ Astutefool:
Good point, but my biggest problem with VA's service is that some of its functions (such as movies) are pay-per-use (view).
"Over 3,000 MP3 tunes stored in on-board media server; persistent play lists (i.e. the playlist you make online or in your seat will follow you to future flights)"
A 170,000 pound iPod.
Can your ipod play 300 mp3s at the same time? hum!
"Expected to take flight this summer (US Dept. of Transportation approval pending)"
It's not approved yet, but they built an airplane around it?
Approval - there are procedures which need to be followed for cruise certification of any serious modification of an airliner.
This system is obviously a serious modification (especially with 802.11b and other RF emitting devices onboard), which calls for FAA approval. Whether it's overall good or it just cripples the industry, GOK.
And engadget, you could fly it without the cert, it's just way more costly and under different (so called test flight) arrangements with the airlines, manufacturer and FAA.
probably because the united states isn't the only country in the world. Well that's what I heard anyway, dunno though.
it's not the Red service that is getting approved but VAs business plan and airline certification. The red service is just being developed and demoed in preparation of the FAA giving them the OK to fly in the US air space.
With all those toys i don't think i could ever get bored on the plane, my credit card won't like it though.
Nice rumors on the on-plane chat.. "I've heard there's a bomb on board.."
God forbid you make a joke in an airplane or an airport and use the word bomb! Your family wont hear from you in like a week and instead of you getting poked by fat Tony with tattoos this time Tony will be wearing a uniform
That is bad. In that case you might as well just bring a laptop with all your multimedia and plug it into the socket, which makes all of the expensive server systems pointless.
It's all good for the U.S. domestic routes since honestly, the American flying sector is completely shit compared to whats outs there in the rest of the world.
Lack of service, extremely cramped eats, outdated planes and crappy terminals are just the first words that come to mind when thinking of the American travel companies.
All that tech is certainly cool but its gonna take more than that to make me wanna fly VA
Hmm, this is kinda like the old delta song, except for the live TV part. It's still cool though.
Wait, you mean you guys actually have to pay for food and movies on flights? Dude, that sucks.
depends on the flight, they all include a drink, but flights less and hour usualy only half the people actually get one. Longer ones include a meal, but it's usually not very good and you get a "beef chicken or fish" option at best. defiantly no turkey sandwiches even if you wanted to buy one. more and more are playing some TV, and flights more than 4 hours usually have a movie, but the screens are on 14" sets on the ceiling in the isles, from some seats you can't see it at all.
its a singles bar at 20,000 ft
'hey this is ben in seat 34b. can i get the stewardess to get you a drink?'
Free drinks? Sweet! $5 candy bars? Not so sweet.
Virgin America is getting screwed over by the DOT right now. The other airlines are colluding to keep them from getting their approval to fly. Go to:
www.letvafly.com and sign the petition to support them.
No I don't work for them at all. I just fly a lot and would love to be able to have this in flight set up on my flights. I've flown Virgin in other parts of the world and like it alot. Having them in the US would be sweet!
No person educated in the avaition business would sign this petition. Purely on the basis of national security.
Virgin America will fly in the US as soon as IranAir is allowed to fly as well.
Yes it exists
http://www.iranair.nl/
Vegetarian or low sodium meals are the best when flying less than first class. You can be assured the food is pretty fresh, because they put lots of vegetables in those specialty orders and they don't store for a week like the meat ones do. Don't expect vegan, though; my vegetarian meals have always had milk or butter or cheese, and sometimes egg.
Does the cabin always have the nightclub lighting? and do the "Dual 802.11b WiFi access points" =free wifi?
Virgin has been offering this kind of stuff for a looooong time. I remember a flight I took in 1993 (YES 14 YEARS AGO) from London to New York. It had multiple video programs and films to choose from, it had a Nintendo built in, multiple music channels. They're been slowly improving it over time. It's not all suddenly new.
I can see it now. The 6 year-old behind me banging away on the touch screen in my headrest during the entire trans-Atlantic flight.
PILOTS! DID YOU LOCK YOUR AIRCRAFT?
Damn, I think I left the keys inside!
http://www.engadget.com/photos/mega-hands-on-virgin-americas-airbus-a320-with-red-in-flight-entertainment/156820/
It will not happen. If it does, it will open a Pandora’s box with regard to foreign carriers providing domestic travel. The FAA may certify the aircraft, but the US DOT has denied the request twice.
"Cabotage"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabotage
uh.. how does allowing a British company to fly domestic compromise security?
If anything wouldn't international flights be riskier?
What does this have to do with "IranAir"?
..seems like ANYTHING nowdays can be justified on the basis of "national security" :-(
This will be awesome if they really want to make all of this available in a "budget" airline... Hey Engadget, which features were in which part of the plane?
I mean, were the ethernet and USB jacks first-class only?
And what the heck is up with those gooseneck things in first class? Are they microphones? What in the world would I use one of those for? Looks like it'd get in the way.
I think the "gooseneck" thing is a reading light. I've seen them before. Weird looking, but slightly more convenient than reaching up to the ceiling for the light up there.
If you want to help VA get airborne sign their online petition to the FAA @ www.virginamerica.com Personally I don't want another glitsy airline with lots of perks (some of which going to the lucky few in 1st class). As long as the flight attendants are friendly and the seat is comfortable, I'm happy.
One of the reasons I prefer to driver, rather than fly is the CRAMPED seats. Unless you pay a LOT of $$$ for business or first class, you are nothing more than cattle in a cattle car. No elbow room, no leg room. If a plane had to evacuate QUICKLY, more people would probably be killed just trying to get out of their seats.
And I'm not talking about the wide butt problem of Americans. I remember flying quite comfortably back in the 80's, but now, with all the mergers, takeovers etc, they have squeezed the seating to maximize the amount of people in one flight.
Instead of catering to convenience, why not comfort?
I know in our city, they have FIVE flights to Dallas Texas
and 6 to Chicago! That's nuts! Half the time, the flights are
only half full. Why not just have one in the morning, one at noon and one in the evening and if that isn't good enough, rearrange your "busy" schedule, or take a damn charter flight.
With the stupid restrictions on being at the airport two days before the flight, strip searches, not taking liquids on board, how about we just go the extra step and handcuff everyone and lock them in their seats, and to keep them quiet so you don't have to feed them, add a tranquilizer. Heck, by the time you get done with the grilling at the airport, the precheck in, then getting your belongings back on the other side (if they don't get lost), I can DRIVE to Dallas or Chicago and not be so stressed or as tired.
Rusty:
Dude take a tranq and settle down!
one good reason for flying instead of driving is time! 15 hours to drive to Tucson from Denver eats a whole day and then to return eats another day so you have to add two days to whatever time you want to spend in your vacation destination. I myself would prefer to fly in 3 hours, be fresh and ready to do something when I arrive then totally worn out from an all day drive.
Rusty - unless you are 6'10" tall or have a 50" waist, you should be able to sit comfortably, even in Economy Class. Other suggestion, fly planes that have more than 5 seats total!
could someone explain to me why i still can't use my phone during the flight? because if this plain has all of that i should be able to use my free cingular phone
Love the cockpit photos! Looks a little better than the C-130E (Circa 1963) I used to crew....
omg, how much does 1 flight cost? it's cool
Virgin AMERICA. So they built the plane planning on it hopefully flying in the US, but they didnt have approval to fly it in the US. Don't get all huffy with me about your insecurity. Oh, sorry. The plane might fly from Canada to Brazil, around the US. Yeah, that's smart. Get off your US bashing pedistal for a second and look at what they are trying to do. Drum up support for the airplane to get the people to try to speak to their congressmen. I want to know whay VA isn't allowed to fly in the US in the first place...what did they do or what aren't they doing?
I'll take two tickets to anywhere, right now. Thank you very much. I flew with them cross-Atlantic a few years ago, it was better than even the best airlines today. In-seat consoles with gamepad, all kind of media, actual bar in first class (could see it from where I was sitting). Top-notch stuff. Hopefully their prices will be pretty competitive; I'm willing to pay an extra 15-20% for that kind of stuff.
How exactly was I America bashing? I was simply pointing out that since they (virgin group) operates airlines in other countries they could just service other countries with their shiny new plane.
now, when you fall out of the sky because of a broken tail you can write yor own obituary!
I like those tri-monitor setups in the command center...i want one
"Virgin America is getting screwed over by the DOT right now. "
They're not getting "screwed over". No foreign airline can fly domestic in *any* country by default - it's part of a worldwide system that all countries have signed off on. You don't see JAL flying LGA-ORD either. These permissions are always given out on a case by case basis and are never guaranteed - the airlines need to satisfy a long list of conditions to even be considered.
There are good reasons why this is the case. For one thing, the FAA has no jurisdiction over foreign airlines - they're governed by the laws in their own countries. That includes maintenance procedures, government subsidization, etc.
Here's a brief rundown of the various "freedoms" airlines have or don't have - the one in question here is fifth freedom rights: http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/aviation/Data/freedoms.htm
This is a US owned airline with US FAA oversight. They already have completed FAA certification and are waiting on DOT approval. Cabotage has nothing to do with this.
And to correct you, the US FAA does have authority over foreign airlines in the US, as well as US registered planes worldwide.
Er, sorry, I meant "ninth freedom" rights are what's in question here - I've got fifth freedom on the brain lately, as it's a more common issue than ninth freedom rights.
In the latest episode of diggnation, episode 84, they actually did the show on the new Virgin America airplane. Pretty cool, you can check it out.
Too bad these planes probably won't ever fly over Europe... bummer
That's all great, but is AVOD really worth it on an A320. I mean, you're going to be in the air for what, like three hours?
That food ordering tab is GENIUS. How peeved have you been when you fell asleep and missed your opportunity for some crappy peanuts and 1/2 can of soda??
"Water....give me Water....."
"Sorry sir....the plane is landing"
Can you imagine if they were ever able to implememt Multi-Player gaming for flights???
"BOOYAH!!!....That's right FIRST CLASS......I'm talking to you!! You suck at Halo....and you're gonna die first if we crash!!"
Hasn't anyone read about all the concessions Virgin Air made in the hopes of getting approval.
http://www.clearsparkdesign.com
are these computers isolated away form the flight computers? I'd hate to be on a flight and have some jacka$$ hacker crash the flight computers and go down.
The way they do Wi-Fi onboard is using directed Wi-fi antennas. A cell phone wouldn't wreak havoc on the plane as much as on the ground, as it tries to contact several towers at once and brings the phone grid down. Also, even if it was safe to use a phone in the plane, a passenger that doesn't know would probably tackle you or smash your cell phone. FAA has already granted permission for VA to fly but DOT hasn't, and NO, VA doesn't fly trans-Atlantic.
I think the airbus are awesome, massive, but awesome! The technology within it seems as if it takes away the pain of being on a boring airplane!
www.studio24designs.com