Southwest & Dish to provide passengers in-flight entertainment via Apple's iPad 2

Satellite television provider Dish and stalwart low-cost airline Southwest on Tuesday announced an extension of their partnership that will see Dish lend iPad 2 tablets to passengers for use during flights on certain routes.

Photo from Flickr user Aero Icarus

The program will be available to passengers on Wi-Fi-enabled flights between Chicago-Midway, Denver, and Oakland airports, the companies said in a release. Passengers will be able to check out an iPad 2 at in-terminal Dish kiosks prior to departure and return the iPad at the corresponding kiosk on arrival.

The lending program is part of a Dish and Southwest promotion entitled "TV Flies Free," which lets travelers watch live television and on-demand programming for no cost, and borrowing an iPad will not incur any additional fee.

Dish Chief Marketing Officer James Moorhead said that the companies wanted to "give travelers the chance to relax and enjoy their favorite programming, whether in the air on Southwest or on the ground," predicting that the lending program would "provide a great entertainment experience."

Travelers have been able to watch live television on their own WiFi-enabled devices through the "TV Flies Free" promotion since July.

Tablets, and iPads in particular, are taking the aviation industry by storm. Companies like Qantas and Hawaiian Airlines have already deployed iPads and iPad minis for on-board entertainment, while many others — Â including heavyweights American Airlines and United — Â have chosen Apple's slate for cockpit use, replacing cumbersome paper manuals and charts for pilots.

21 Comments

pmz 3429 comments · 15 Years

About 11 years ago

Odd...why wouldn't they give out Surface devices, or Galaxy Tab? Oh...that's right...

andysol 2504 comments · 13 Years

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmz

Odd...why wouldn't they give out Surface devices, or Galaxy Tab? Oh...that's right...

Yes, I get it was a joke. And a good one.

But the real reason is Dish is giving you an iPad if you sign up for Dish- so it's a tie-in. ;)

mutoneon 51 comments · 17 Years

Nexus 7 HD makes a lot more sense as an-flight entertainment. Cheaper deployment cost, better aspect ratio for watching movies. Certainly second-tier as a gaming platform, but I suspect most gamers already have their needs taken care of. A good movie-watching platform makes much more sense from a mass appeal standpoint. Really don't see the upside to going iPad 2 for in-flight. Especially if they're paying anywhere close to Apple's MSRP.

matrix07 1993 comments · 14 Years

[quote name="mutoneon" url="/t/160467/southwest-amp-dish-to-provide-passengers-in-flight-entertainment-via-apples-ipad-2#post_2426693"]Nexus 7 HD makes a lot more sense as an-flight entertainment. Cheaper deployment cost, better aspect ratio for watching movies. Certainly second-tier as a gaming platform, but I suspect most gamers already have their needs taken care of. A good movie-watching platform makes much more sense from a mass appeal standpoint. Really don't see the upside to going iPad 2 for in-flight. Especially if they're paying anywhere close to Apple's MSRP.[/quote] True but the brand will suffer when people think you hand them cheap junk. And I think the screen on N7 is too small.