Review of Virgin America’s In Flight Entertainment System - RED

Today at Flightsimulationguru.com we take a step out of the virtual world and into the real world as we review Virgin America’s in-flight entertainment system.

Whereas travellers were once satisfied with a free newspaper, today’s tech savy population increasingly demands high quality customizable content delivered directly to their seat.

Most early editions of seatback entertainment systems featured small screens displaying fuzzy analog video playback from a bank of VCRs in a jet’s galley. Although these systems represented a major breakthrough at the time, the technology is now extremely obsolete. However, many major airlines still base their in-flight entertainment setups off these basic systems.

Next generation systems, such as those found on RED, feature a combination of on-demand and live satellite technology to allow passengers to watch live television, listen to custom music playlists, play games or watch (and pause/ff/rw) a movie.

Although it appears there are still some teething problems with Virgin America’s system, overall I was very impressed and I look forward to seeing how it develops over time.