Qantas Upgraded A330 Goes Pfft

20th Jan 2015

Just like any other coming-out parties, anticipation often builds up as the big day draws closer. Most often we expect that heightened anticipation will lead to something explosive but pleasant surprise.

That is supposed to happen when a company launches a product or service to the market. Unfortunately, it's not the case with Qantas during the launch of the first of its A330 aircraft that underwent cabin upgrade.

The much-anticipated debut of its upgraded A330 flight was greeted with consternation instead when its in-flight entertainment system malfunctioned.

Prior to the launch date, Qantas marketed extensively across the country the new and enhanced Business Suites aboard A330 flights along with the new in-flight entertainment system in all classes.

Screens went crashing one after the other as if a trigger-happy saboteur enjoying his day. According to one passenger who was on the economy cabin of the said flight, the screen of his monitor crashed shortly after he turned it on. The same thing happened to other passengers when they turned on their respective monitors.

While some screens froze right after turning on, some passengers narrated that their screen actually worked but there was nothing to see as the screen was empty.

The airline must have already anticipated the problem as they took on board a Panasonic engineer who was able to fix it in no time. However, the same problem occurred on the return flight, this time, also happened in the business class cabin.

Some narrated that the video they're watching sometimes went to a full stop and just reverted back to the main menu. Some reported missing icons or items from the menu and even dead links.

The problem was confirmed by the Panasonic engineer himself and said that the system needs to be reset to prevent the recurrence of the problem in other flights.

Panasonic is the equipment provider of the in-flight entertainment system. It is a standard operating procedure for any company to send a certified technician for support of newly-installed equipment in case something goes awry.

Aside from the entertainment system snafu, no other major problem was reported except for the hand basins inside two of the toilets in the economy cabin.