IFE

Karen Schipper – Former El Al IFE Manager and Past WAEA President

Posted on 20.05.11

For many years, the larger than life figure of Karen Schipper was a familiar face at WAEA events such as the annual conference and the TV Market. Karen worked for El Al Israel Airlines for an amazing 35 years, many of those as Manager for In-flight Entertainment. She also helped to shape the future direction of the WAEA when, in 2000, she served for a year as President. She eventually chose to retire after a serious health scare but these days is in good shape and is in regular contact with many of her former colleagues in the industry. In the latest PME Interview, Karen talks with Steve Harvey about her years at El Al and her term as President.

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Tagged with: El Al Israel Airlines • entertainment • IFE • in-flight • Karen Schipper • WAEA

Albert de Wet – Manager: IFE, Etihad Airways

Posted on 11.05.11

Our guest today on the PME Interview heads up the IFE department of one of the world’s fastest growing airlines. Formerly with South African Airways, Albert de Wet moved to Abu Dhabi in 2005 to join Etihad Airways. Steve Harvey talks to Albert about his reasons for making the move and the strategy for in-flight entertainment at Etihad…

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Tagged with: Abu Dhabi • Albert de Wet • entertainment • Etihad Airways • IFE • in-flight • South African Airways

Arn Steventon – Founder, Individual In-flight Entertainment

Posted on 11.04.11

Once upon a time in the early eighties a young man was sitting on an airplane thinking about how the inflight entertainment experience might be improved. Since we’re unable to track down the other passengers on that eventful flight there’s no way of knowing whether Arn Steventon actually shouted “Eureka” but the idea that was born that day has transformed our industry and improved the inflight experience for millions of passengers. The idea that Arn came up with was for seat back TV, made possible by the development of the LCD TV screen. At the 30th anniversary conference in Palm Springs the WAEA presented Arn Steventon with an ‘Outstanding Achievement Award’. In the latest PME Interview, Steve Harvey interviews Arn Steventon about how he set about turning his idea into a reality…

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Tagged with: APEX • Arn Steventon • entertainment • IFE • in-flight • LCD TV screen • Outstanding Achievement Award • WAEA

Geoff Underwood – Managing Director, Inflight Peripherals

Posted on 25.03.11

These days we mostly associate the word connectivity with cell phones, Wi-Fi and the internet but there’s one IFE company that claims to have been connecting passengers for years. Inflight Peripherals manufactures the little headset jacks that fit in the arm rest of the seat to enable passengers to plug in a headset and listen to the audio track of the movie or a music channel.

It’s not a particularly extravagant piece of equipment yet without it no-one would be able to enjoy the in-flight entertainment. No wonder Managing Director Geoff Underwood calls his company, The Passenger Connectivity Company.

In this PME Interview, Geoff talks to Steve Harvey about how Inflight Peripherals, based on the Isle of Wight in southern England, went from a humble start up to winning a prestigious award from Queen Elizabeth.

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Tagged with: audio track • award • cell phones • connectivity • entertainment • Geoff Underwood • headset • IFE • Inflight Peripherals • internet • Isle of Wight • movie • music channel • passengers • Queen Elizabeth • The Passenger Connectivity Company • Wi-Fi

Tal Kalderon – In-flight Entertainment Manager, El Al Israel Airlines

Posted on 24.02.11

Many IFE managers in our industry started with an airline background and, when appointed to the position, had to learn about the entertainment business. Our guest today came from a television background and had to spend his first few months researching the airline industry. Tal Kalderon is In-flight Entertainment Manager at El Al Israel Airlines and on the PME Interview he talks to Steve Harvey about some of the challenges he faced when he first started in the job nearly five years ago.

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Tagged with: airlines • El Al • entertainment • IFE • in-flight • Israel • Tal Kalderon

Ken Brady – Chief Engineer, Thales

Posted on 25.01.11

What will await passengers in the year 2015 when they board their 787 (hopefully in service by then) or the A350? As far as in-flight entertainment and connectivity are concerned, Ken Brady is the man with, at least, some of the answers. As Chief Engineer at Thales, Ken’s job is to look to the future, to predict what products and services airlines and their passengers will expect to find on board by the middle of the decade. On this latest PME Interview, Steve Harvey talks to Ken about how the future looks from the Thales point of view…

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Tagged with: 787 • A350 • airlines • Chief Engineer • connectivity • entertainment • IFE • in-flight • Ken Brady • passengers • Thales

Linda Celestino – General Manager Inflight Services, Oman Air

Posted on 09.01.11

Can you name the carrier that features full in-flight connectivity, including the use of mobile phones, on all long haul flights? The answer, Oman Air, may come as a surprise. Yet delve a little deeper and there are all sorts of pleasant surprises awaiting passengers flying between Muscat and Europe. In this week’s PME Interview, Linda Celestino, General Manager Inflight Services at Oman Air, talks to Steve Harvey about how the new in-flight service has been received by passengers.

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Tagged with: carrier • connectivity • Europe • IFE • in-flight • Inflight Services • Linda Celestino • long haul flights • mobile phones • Muscat • Oman Air

Elif Ergezen – Cabin and IFE Manager, Turkish Airlines

Posted on 09.12.10

There are some exciting things happening these days at Turkish Airlines. A multi-million dollar advertising campaign starring Kevin Costner, a sponsorship deal with Manchester United, orders with Airbus and Boeing for 60 new aircraft, new sleek cabin interiors, a four star rating from Skytrax and the introduction of on-board connectivity. Seems like an opportune time to catch up with Elif Ergezen, Cabin and IFE Manager at Turkish Airlines.

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Tagged with: Airbus • airlines • Boeing • connectivity • Elif Ergezen • IFE • Kevin Costner • Manchester United • Skytrax • Turkish Airlines

John Bruckman – CEO, Interact

Posted on 15.11.10

It’s tough to be a Customer Service Provider. Competition in the market place is intense and hard won business is often put in jeopardy when competing airlines merge or, even worse, go into chapter 11 or liquidation. Yet John Bruckman is a survivor. John’s Southern Californian based CSP company, Interact, has a healthy market share of the Central and South American market. Originally founded to source movies and TV shows, Interact has been diversifying to ensure the revenue keeps flowing. Steve Harvey talks to John Bruckman about what the future holds for Interact and CSPs in general.

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Tagged with: airlines • Central America • CSP • Customer Service Provider • IFE • in-flight • Interact • John Bruckman • movies • South America • TV shows

Neil James: Executive Director, Corporate Sales & Product Management, Panasonic Avionics Corporation

Posted on 12.10.10

Like it or not, the current market for In-flight entertainment hardware is dominated by Panasonic Avionics Systems. It was not always the case. When the company, originally known as Matsushita, first appeared in the early 80s, it was based in New Jersey and had but a miniscule share of a market which at the time was dominated by industry giants Transcom, In-flight Motion Pictures and Hughes Avicom. How times have changed! For a view from the top, Steve Harvey interviews Panasonic’s Executive Director of Corporate Sales and Product Management, Neil James.

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