Jazz To Fly First RJ With Entertainment System

As Air Canada [ACE] rolls out its new Bombardier [BBD] CRJ 705s in May it will be the first to fly an RJ with a personal in- flight entertainment system. The 75-seat aircraft will be the first in the Air Canada family to sport its new seat-back, video-on-demand system. While the CRJ 705 will be flying for...

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As Air Canada [ACE] rolls out its new Bombardier [BBD] CRJ 705s in May it will be the first to fly an RJ with a personal in- flight entertainment system.

The 75-seat aircraft will be the first in the Air Canada family to sport its new seat-back, video-on-demand system. While the CRJ 705 will be flying for Air Canada Jazz, all of the aircraft in the mainline fleet, including the new Embraer [ERJ] 175 and 195 will be equipped with the TV systems. The carrier has not selected the vendor that will install the new system which will be common to all aircraft, said John Reber, the carrier's communications manager.

The introduction of the in-flight entertainment system is part of a new business plan to increase customer service and become a more competitive player in the North American marketplace, Reber said. Air Canada exited the Canadian equivalent of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization last September.

Its primary Canadian competitor, WestJet [WJA], will outfit its entire fleet of Boeing [BA] 737s with 24-channel satellite televisions this year. It has already wired more than 22 of its 56 planes.

Evolutionary developments both in aircraft and entertainment technology converged to make an in-flight system practical on the CRJ 705, said Rob Brookler, a spokesman for the World Airline Entertainment Association (WAEA). "The manufacturers have been focusing on narrow-body and smaller aircraft because the equipment is light enough and compact enough that a high-end system can be installed on these aircraft."

The CRJ 705 is a CRJ 900 with a two-class cabin and seating for 75 instead of the 86 seats of a normal CRJ 900 configuration, said Eric van den Berger, a project planner at Bombardier. "It has more real estate." However, it is now possible to put a similar system in a CRJ 200, he added.

It has also made little sense to install a television system for relatively short flights, Brookler added.

Jazz will be flying typically "medium haul routes," that are longer than those flown by the 50-seat CRJ 200. While Jazz has not announced its complete CRJ 705 route map, Reber said that a typical route will be the 1,379-mile trip from Saskatoon to Toronto which will take about 3.5 hours.

The video-on-demand system will include 80 hours of video programming and 50 hours of music. The system will include a number of shorter pieces including popular TV episodes. An already popular feature is a news summary that is available on the 50-minute flight between Montreal and Toronto, Reber said.

"Passengers today need to be entertained or connected as a matter of lifestyle as they are not as willing to be without for 45 minutes, an hour or an hour-and-half. It boils down to whether a carrier's business model or passenger demand merit the costs. It comes down to an airline decision," Brookler said.

With the addition of the CRJ 705, Jazz absorbs routes currently flown by Air Canada. Once Jazz is completely outfitted with 65 CRJ 200s, it will fly to the bulk of Canadian cities - Air Canada will fly to only eight Canadian cities. Reber said Jazz will also be providing more transborder flights from the United States to Canada.

Jazz will take delivery of the 15 CRJ 705s in May, while it has been receiving new 15 CRJ 200s since last October. Jazz will inherit the CRJ 200s currently flown by Air Canada as the 73-seat Embraer 175 start arriving in July. The larger Embraer 190, configured to carry 93 passengers, will arrive in November. Air Canada has ordered 45 Embraer 190s. The 73-seat Embraer 175 will be the smallest plane in the Air Canada fleet compared to the current 50-seat CRJ 200. The move will also shift more mainline aircraft to long-haul international flying from five Canadian gateway cities. As the CRJ 200s enter Jazz service, Reber said Jazz will retire some of its Dash 8 turboprops.

>>John Reber, Air Canada, (514) 422-5676; Eric van den Berger, Bombardier, (416) 633-7310; Rob Brookler, WAEA, (703) 610-9021.<<