US Airways has launched its flight trial of Lumexis’s Fiber-To-The-Screen (FTTS) in-flight entertainment (IFE) system on an A320. The installation was designed and overseen by Inflight Canada, and FAA certification was accomplished through Aero Certification & Engineering.

Lumexis’s FTTS system uses advanced fibre optic technology, which the company says requires less hardware and reduces the system’s weight by as much 50%. The FTTS system is designed to reduce the overall cost of ownership by lowering acquisition cost, minimising spares provisioning, reducing fuel burn and decreasing repair/maintenance costs (from simpler architecture). It can also provide high-definition quality content.

The IFE system offers more than 250 hours of content with 227 entertainment options, including 30 movies, 86 television programmes, four audio books, 100 music CDs, and seven games. Customers can choose on-demand entertainment through a seatback touch-screen and pay using a debit or credit card in the seat-back unit.

The aircraft will primarily fly between Santa Ana, California; Phoenix, Arizona; and Atlanta, Georgia. Tray table liners with instructions on how to use the system, specially trained flight attendant product experts and a Lumexis representative are available on all flights to assist customers and US Airways flight attendants working the flight. A survey is included in the system to allow customers to provide input on the types of entertainment they prefer and how the system can be enhanced.

“During the flight trial we plan to learn more about the types of programming our customers want and how they want to pay for them,” said Andrew Nocella, US Airways’ senior vice president, marketing and planning. “We’ll be testing bundled pay-per-use and a la carte pay-per-view options at different price points. Testing this system provides yet another option as we continue to expand our ‘pay for what you choose to use’ business model. The data we’ll gather will also help us determine our long-term domestic in-flight entertainment plans.”