Its no-frills mandate--no meals, no in-flight service, no travel agents--is popular with both budget-seekers and jet-setters.
So one way or another, it appears that in-flight calls are in the cards.
At this rate, the tipping point for in-flight wi-fi will come at the end of 2011.
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"It is worse than in-flight food, or at a cheap college cafeteria, " exclaimed her boyfriend.
However, it may be a decade until such in-flight review systems gain wide traction.
But new technology that allows airlines to survey passengers in-flight may someday prove the cynics wrong.
She had good jobs too, first on Izvestia, the government paper, then on Aeroflot's in-flight magazine.
Umami-rich ingredients are now regular fare on the British Airways in-flight menu, courtesy of Heston Blumenthal.
Weigman estimates that in-flight Wi-Fi will be a several billion-dollar market in a few years.
But he does acknowledge that some chefs have influenced a new style of in-flight cuisine.
Rule No. 1 about in-flight wi-fi (at least in the U.S.): no phone calls allowed.
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So could the increased use of portable devices mean the end of traditional in-flight entertainment?
For many airlines, onboard in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems can be expensive to buy, install and maintain.
It still stands out for in-flight massages and clever ads that flirt with bad taste.
There an American passport partially hidden by an in-flight meal tray strewn across the footpath.
Frequent fliers like me have felt that strife reflected in our in-flight experiences on occasion.
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In-flight entertainment is now a critical part of how airlines position themselves, say Mr Harteveldt.
On Emirates Airlines alone, passengers have made 650, 000 in-flight phone conversations since 2008.
Conventional wisdom says in-flight demos should be fact-based and sobering, and they pretty much always have been.
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Improve access to airline websites, check-in kiosks, in-flight entertainment centers, audio-visual displays, medical oxygen, and airplane bathrooms.
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In-flight service has quite possibly never been worse, due in large part to several continuing labor disputes.
All this, says Lysette Gauna, Virgin's head of in-flight entertainment, reinforces Virgin's association with fun and innovation.
Choices like these make us wonder just how much money the airlines make by offering in-flight movies.
Overall, agitation or psychiatric symptoms made up 2% of in-flight medical emergencies, according to analysis from the UPSM.
The hub brings employees from across the company together, including e-commerce, customer care, in-flight services, IT and marketing.
Virgin America added the popular HBO show "Girls" to its in-flight entertainment because of customer requests on surveys.
These pricing changes, if implemented, could boost adoption of in-flight Wi-Fi, which is still considered a nascent technology.
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Ground crews and in-flight attendants announced 15 days of strikes, during three weeks Monday to Friday, starting Monday.
Their overtired bosses, meanwhile, can get a free in-flight massage if they travel Upper Class with Virgin Atlantic.
SITA's annual airline survey, more than 20% of global airlines plan to introduce in-flight mobile telephony by 2007.
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