Airlines to Offer iPod Integration

Some 70 percent of new cars offer iPod integration options: in mid-2007, the same option will start appearing on Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM, and United flights.

iPod maker Apple Computer today announced an series of agreements which will enable Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM, and United airlines to offer their passengers seamless iPod integration with the carriers’ in-flight entertainment systems.

“There is no better traveling companion than an iPod, and now travelers can power their iPods during flight and even watch their iPod movies and TV shows on their seat back displays,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s VP of Worldwide iPod Product Marketing.

The six airlines will offer in-seat connections for iPods which supply power to the portable media player for in-flight charging, and enable video content from iPods to be displayed on built-in seat-back displays.

Apple also announced it is working with Panasonic Avionics Corporation to make in-flight iPod connectivity available to more airlines in the future.

The announcement is a significant step for any consumer electronics device maker: unlike, say, Internet-based companies, airlines are not able to turn their fleets on a dime and quickly integrated new technologies across their fleets—particularly in the case of cash-strapped U.S. carriers, still reeling from the effects of post-911 travel requirements and recent high fuel prices. The move signals that at least some major airlines have enough confidence in the iPod’s longevity that they feel offering direct supporting their fleets is a sund business decision which will enhance their value to flyers.

Of course, some of these same airlines thought the same thing about Boeing’s Connexion in-flight broadband service, and look how that turned out.