Song Airline's Low-Fare Mile High Fun:

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Song Offers Mile-High Fun

    

New low-fare airway lets you listen to MP3s, watch TV, and even eat real food.

By Paul Chambers, Tech Live

Imagine you're at the airport. A big news story is about to come on the television at the gate when an announcement is made: It's the final boarding call for your flight.

You'll miss out on the big news during your flight -- unless you're flying Songairways, the new value carrier launched by Delta Air Lines last year. Tonight on "Tech Live" we take you aboard a flight from New York to Atlanta to show you the many ways Song is hoping to keep travelers entertained while en route.

"My own personal monitor -- I can't wait to try and see what I can do," says Sharayla Cleare, a passenger on the flight. "I was totally blown away. And all the choices are amazing."

Not your father's airplane..

From the moment you step on board, you know this isn't an ordinary airplane. Song's vibrant colors -- orange, yellow, blue, and green -- pop off the walls and seats. Each of the 199 seats on board Song's 757s has its own custom screen for the passenger's viewing pleasure, with an added bonus.

"Each individual screen is its own CPU, in essence. Each individual screen has its own IP address. We're able to individually address the seats," says Brian Kirby, lead engineer for cabin electrical at Delta and Song.

"It's a very unique, distinctive brand, a low-fare service.... Putting the televisions on the aircraft gives [passengers] a wide array of choices," adds Joanne Smith, vice president of marketing for Song.

Choices? That's an understatement. By the end of March all of Song's 36 planes will be fitted with a complete digital in-flight entertainment system full of games, movies, television, and digital music.

Song's launch and in-flight offerings up the ante in the battle for travelers. Carriers such as JetBlue also offer video from DirecTV in every seat. JetBlue is also adding XM Satellite radio to its planes in 2004/2005.

Once the plane takes off, you're treated to 24 satellite television channels provided by Dish Network.

"Actually, I saw a new channel I hadn't heard of called Fuse. I watched a little bit of Court TV and the detective stuff, so that was really interesting. And I checked out some Animal Planet," passenger Cleare says.

"We serve everything from TechTV to Cartoon Network to ESPN, so we really have something for everyone," Smith says.

The in-flight entertainment doesn't stop there. Passengers also get to choose from 24 different digital music channels, with at least 30 songs in each. According to Smith there's more to come.

According to Song, in June it will upgrade the system further to allow passengers to create their own playlists for their MP3 player.

If listening to your favorite song isn't enough, there's an onboard music trivia game where you can challenge other passengers. Movies are coming soon and are the only extras passengers will have to pay for. Song's other entertainment items are included in the price of a ticket.

Less than a year ago Song's entertainment offerings weren't possible because of the aging infrastructure of Delta's 757s. But when Song first hit runways in April 2003, it began a series of renovations to support its in-flight entertainment system.

"In phase one we actually stripped out almost all of the interior in order to put the new colors in the aircraft [and] to put the new materials in the aircraft, and we had all the ceiling panels down and the sidewalk panels out, [so] we were able to basically install the backbone that forms the heart of the system," Kirby says.

But when it's all said and done, the happiness of the passenger is what's most important.

"By choosing to go with a digital system instead of analog, it gave us so much more opportunity to give customers choice," Smith says.

"Yeah, it really helps out," passenger Scott Guidroz says of the entertainment system. "It makes the flight much shorter... having choices and having the Dish Network while you're flying."

And if all that playing, watching, and listening makes you hungry, Song's got an answer.

"We have choice of fresh, organic meals and indulgent snacks and martinis shaken on board," Smith says. "We've been really thoughtful about our approach."

If the actual approach to landing is half as good as the onboard service, Song should be a hit with travelers.

Modified March 15, 2004

http://www.techtv.com/news/culture/story/0...3640316,00.html

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