The company I work for, Bazaarvoice, affords me the
opportunity to travel internationally. Its exciting because its different. I’ve had the chance to fly American Airlines and British Airways, each
on a Boeing 777 and each from DFW to London’s Gatwick airport, which of course means I
have an opinion about which is better. And technology comes into play as always. Read on.
On the BA flight the plane is configured with first class
“pods” that look like little walled mini-cubes, but they’re not cubes at
all. They’re circular, provide for some
privacy, and are offset and facing each other allowing for people traveling
together to enjoy some conversation. They’re well appointed, serviced like royalty, and fantastic. That is, from the vantage of the other
classes of seats – i never flew first. Business is similar, just smaller a bit, but still outstanding. Upgraded coach is roomier with fewer seats
total, then there’s coach. Its what
you’d expect, fine seats and decent legroom, but nothing special. The seats each have video systems with
multiple channels of audio and video allowing for some selection as to which
movie you watch. There’s a corded
controller that is capable of multi-button input for gaming or otherwise, but
the software they have for the entertainment system hasn’t taken advantage of
it.
On the AA flight the 777 is packed with more seats. First and business are just seats, but really
nice seats. No pods. The coach sections are both the same, none
are upgraded in any way, and provide for a similar amount of legroom. The video system is different – a touch
screen enables all of the controls without having to touch the controller,
corded again, in the seat arm. The
controller allows for duplicate channel and volume changes and has the buttons
for a gaming setup as well, but isn’t used. Flight maps are available, just like in the BA flight, and the programming
is similarly varied. Other than the
glitch at the beginning of the flight that disabled the entertainment for 30
minutes, it was similar.
Overall the technology in coach is parity between the
two. I preferred the AA flight’s touch
screen because it allowed for visual selections of entertainment but they’re
really the same. Overall I’d rather fly
British Airways because of the general service. Free alcohol on the flight doesn’t hurt either. Oh, and the accents make you feel like you’re
international before you leave US soil. Fun.