Southwest joins the free-movies pack
Airline catches up to rivals Delta, United American and Alaska.
Southwest Airlines, the nation’s most popular domestic carrier, has begun offering passengers free movies to match the onboard entertainment already offered by most of its biggest rivals.
The Dallas-based carrier is playing catchup with rivals American, Delta, United and Alaska, which already offer free entertainment on planes with wireless internet, most of it available for streaming on the portable electronic devices that passengers bring aboard.
The carrier was one of the first to offer free streaming television, but is now the last of the major carriers to offer free movies. Although carriers such as Delta and JetBlue offer movies, television and other forms of entertainment on seatback screens, Southwest has stuck with offering entertainment that can be viewed on the devices that passengers bring with them — a less-expensive alternative that helps Southwest keep prices low.
“We pivoted early on live TV before anyone else,” said Southwest Airlines spokesman Brad Hawkins. “We are now rounding out that suite of complimentary offerings.”
Seth Kaplan, editor of Airline Weekly, a trade publication, said Southwest may simply be offering free movies to better compete with its rivals that already
have the service.
“This is them trying to match the in-flight entertainment offerings of other airlines,” he said.
But there might be other ways airlines can benefit financially from offering free movies. To watch the movies, most of the large carriers direct passengers to download the airline app to their phone, tablet or laptop.
The airline apps can be used to “upsell” passengers to other services.
In addition to giving passengers “check in” reminders and other alerts about their flights, the
Southwest Airlines app includes an enrollment form for fliers to join the carrier’s loyalty reward program and tempts them with links to book a rental car or hotel room with businesses that have a partnership with the carrier.
Henry H. Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst with Atmosphere Research Group, said airlines may also be able to use their apps to collect data about passenger preferences, such as what entertainment they prefer.
But he thinks one of the primary reasons airlines are offering free movies is to distract and entertain passengers so they won’t be as upset about all the other services and products they must pay for on their flights.
TSA tests new screening device
The Transportation Security Administration has given the go-ahead to test technology that is designed to screen multiple airport passengers at the same time from up to 25 feet away.
The technology, described as “passive terahertz” screening, is one of several advances that the
TSA and airlines hope will help U.S. airports handle the growing demand for air travel that is creating bottlenecks and frustration at airports across the country.
The TSA has purchased several terahertz screening devices from Britain-based Thruvision to test in an agency facility near Arlington, Va. If the devices pass the initial tests, they may be used on a trial basis at U.S. airports, said Kevin Gramer, vice president of Thruvision Americas.
The screening device, which is about the size of an
old-fashioned PC computer tower and weighs about 50 pounds, reads the outline of people to reveal firearms and explosives hidden under their clothes.
Unlike the TSA’s existing full-body scanners that bounce millimeter waves off of passengers to spot objects hidden under their clothes, Gramer said, the passive terahertz technology reads the energy emitted by a person, similar to thermal imaging used in night-vision goggles.
“It’s 100% passive. There is no radiation coming out of our device,” he said. “You don’t have to stand directly in front of the device.”
As a result, Thruvision says its technology can screen up to 2,000 people an hour and detect a concealed device from up to 25 feet. Initially, the system can be used in addition to the existing full-body scanners already deployed at airports, but Gramer said the device can eventually replace parts of the TSA’s security screening system.
Gramer said the system was used last year to screen people attending a tribute concert organized by singer Ariana Grande after her Manchester concert of May 22, 2017, ended in a suicide bombing that killed 23 people and wounded 139 others.
Earlier this summer, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced that it planned to use Thruvision’s scanners to help prevent terrorist attacks in the system’s 93 subway and light-rail stations.