Hawaiian Airlines to offer iPad minis for in-flight entertainment on 14 planes

[wraggster]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/08/hawaiian-airlines-ipad-mini02.jpg (http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/30/hawaiian-airlines-ipad-in-flight-entertainment/)Starting September 1st, people flying Hawaiian Airlines will get the chance to spend some R&R time with an iPad mini thousands of feet in the air. It's all thanks to the company contracting Blue Avionics (http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/17/ipad-takes-to-the-skies-with-bluebox-ai-this-july/) to switch its existing in-flight entertainment systems (IES) with 1,500 miniature iPads on 14 Boeing 767-300 planes. Business class passengers can stream movies and shows for free, but unlike American Airlines' Galaxy Tab program (http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/13/samsung-galaxy-tab-spreads-wings-flies-to-premium-seats-on-amer/) available only to premium seats, anyone onboard can rent a teensy tablet. Sure, it'll cost them $15 for the perk -- $17, if they decided to do so on a whim while already on the plane -- but the existing system will cost them the same amount anyway. iPads on planes aren't anything new -- AA (http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/11/american-airlines-becomes-first-carrier-to-use-ipad-through-whole-flights/) and Alaska Airlines (http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/28/alaska-airlines-ditches-paper-flight-manuals-for-ipads/) have both ditched flight manuals for their digital counterparts, while Qantas (http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/19/qantas-testing-ipad-in-flight-entertainment-still-wont-compare/) and Jetstar Airways (http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/04/jetstar-airways-first-to-rent-out-ipads-only-8-40-a-flight/)have been renting them out for years. However, HA is the first U.S. airline to offer iPads for in-flight entertainment, and some patrons might see that as a welcome change.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/30/hawaiian-airlines-ipad-in-flight-entertainment/