Criterion C - The impact of the issue

Criterion C

In flight entertainment play a very important role in the Aviation world today. Major airlines such as British Airways, Emirates Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific are the main stakeholders in this particular area. Over the years, these airlines have been investing in large amounts for the comfort of passengers and travelers during long hours of flights.

The usage of in flight entertainment is altering many factors such as economy, business and health. As more airlines are adopting better in flight entertainment every year, more passengers are more likely to use those airlines. This is because the healths of travelers are heavily depended on the level of comfort they receive while on board (Westelaken, Hu, Liu, 2008). Studies have shown that by enhancing passengers' relaxation level, it can directly affect their mood and attitude in a positive way by reducing the level of stress. From this, airlines heavily depends on the quality of their in flight entertainment to improve their image (Sharkley, 2006) and attract more travelers for future and long term incomes. However, since the 9/11 attack, the aviation industry had been facing many financial challenges (Drakos,) to upgrade their in flight entertainment system (Juan, 97-98) and the cost to maintain the entertainment systems is very extravagant as airlines will have to keep adding more audio and video features. This also raises the issue of the reliability and to what extent airlines are willing to invest in a safe IFE system as Wi-Fi is now included as part of the system. Unrestricted access may be breached by online criminals who can threaten the security of aircrafts, which is why the idea has only been accepted by only a few airlines worldwide.

On the contrary, in flight Wi-Fi has not been a standard expectation for passengers yet unlike audio and video entertainment system for each passenger seat as companies like Boeing are still in the process of developing the technology. For the mean time, companies such as Linux and Panasonic Avionics are striding forward in the IFE industry despite the financial slowdown in order to improve the environment of travelers during international flights.