Business: Air India, which was taken over by the Tata Group in 2022, has been facing criticism on several counts. From delays to in-flight issues, passenger complaints about cabin quality and poor in-flight entertainment (IFE) have been mounting.
But the IFE part is set to change soon.
In the past few days, passengers have spotted ways to connect to “Vista Inflight Entertainment” that instructs users to turn on airplane mode, turn on wifi on their device and visit a URL to connect to the internet. Air India is tying up with Bluebox – one of the leading players in streaming in-flight entertainment (IFE) solutions, the same company that operates Vistara’s “Vistara World” application since 2018. Vistara is all set to merge with Air India in the coming months. The development comes after the airline faced criticism for non-functional IFE on its older fleet. What is Bluebox WOW? BlueBox WOW creates a captive wireless network and is placed anywhere between two to six locations depending on the aircraft type to ensure better coverage across the aircraft. Operating with several airlines, including Vistara, it helps stream across cabins and offers the ability to store up to 1.6 terabytes of film, TV, audio, games, and other digital content. The boxes are securely housed in overhead compartments, and each box’s single, swappable rechargeable battery delivers up to 15 hours of simultaneously streamed video content. At Vistara, the experience became app-free within a year of starting operations, with passengers able to experience the content by visiting “VistaraWorld.com” on their personal electronic devices. Air India is also going live with an app-free experience.
