Rouge gets wireless inflight entertainment
Air Canada will launch a new wireless inflight entertainment system on its low-cost carrier Rouge when it launches Monday. But what content you get and how successful you are at streaming it will be largely dependent on the personal electronic device you use.
Rouge passengers will be able to stream stored movies, TV, and music, on their personal devices for a $5 fee in economy, and for free on a premium economy, or Rouge Plus, fare.
For the month of July the content will be provided to everyone for free on introductory basis.
PC laptops will be able to stream all content immediately using a plugin that can be downloaded onboard. But if Rouge passengers bring an Apple product, such as an iPhone, iPad or Macbook, they will be required to download Air Canada’s free app prior to boarding to access any premium Hollywood content.
“If you don’t have the app, for whatever reason, you’ll still be able to access TV content, music through the regular browser just like anyone else,” said Anton Vidgen, Air Canada Rouge vice-president of corporate development. “The app is just Holly- wood’s way of adding an additional layer of security.”
Mr. Vidgen said Hollywood studios are “extremely nervous” about streaming content to passengers’ own devices, in part because they may be able to steal the content depending on the software on those devices. The app and the encryption technology contained in the plug-in and app prevents that.
“We believe we are the first airline to have this layer of copyright protection that has given the Hollywood studios sufficient comfort that their content cannot be copied,” Mr. Vidgen said.
He said the reason an app is required for Apple products and not a PC is because of the way the player technology works on those devices.
Rouge has optimized its inflight entertainment for just PC and Apple products because they are the most common devices.
“When you look at introducing the same thing for Android players, Google Nexus, Samsung Galaxy, and so forth, there’s a lot more complexity to those, because each device has its own software configuration,” Mr. Vidgen said. Several other airlines have been looking at streaming inflight entertainment, rather than using traditional seat-back entertainment, including WestJet Airlines Ltd.
Part of the rationale is there is a great deal of weight that can be removed by removing the standard seat-back entertainment systems, which results in greater fuel efficiency.
Charging for the service also creates another revenue stream for the airline.
Calin Rovinescu, Air Canada chief executive, said the airline’s market research shows that most people prefer to bring their own devices and are happy to do that.