Now, inflight wi-fi entertainment on Jet Airways' domestic flights

Jet Airways has been talking about on-board wi-fi based in-flight entertainment for some time now. And today, they've announced that this will now be available across their domestic network. This is awesome news! Here's all you need to know about using this new system.


The concept works on a BYOD - or Bring Your Own Device - model, where Jet Airways provides the content, and users bring the device on which they'd like to view the content. This could be a laptop, smartphone or a tablet. This system replaces the need for seat back TV screens.

The JetScreen portal provides content which features, Movies, TV Shorts, Music, Games and a flight tracker.There are no charges to use the entertainment system, at least for now. 

Here's how it works

Obviously you'll need a wireless-enabled device (802.11g/n) for this. First, you need to load your preferred viewing device with the relevant application. Here they are, along with the system requirements:

For tablets and smartphones
For laptops

How to get the video going on your device

Once you've got the necessary system specs and the relevant app / software loaded on your device, you will need to enable wi-fi on your device (while still in airplane mode), once the cabin crew gives the go-ahead to do this. Then, connect to JetScreen from the list of available networks. You can then open the web browser on your device and start the IFE.

Remember, this is not the same as an airline handing out tablets or iPads with pre-loaded content (as I had on my Air Astana flight a couple of years back, and that was limited to business class).

You can read more about this new initiative here.

But remember...

You cannot download the content to your device, and the content is available only in-flight, not on the ground. But always remember to bring your headphones (Jet Airways will not provide these), and more importantly, use them (as opposed to a few folks I've had the privilege of flying with, who believe they're doing public service when their audio content is over the speakers!).

My thoughts

It is about time that our domestic flights had in-flight entertainment options. Air Vistara currently offers this, but only on one of their aircraft (VT-TTB, in case you're flying them). Jet Airways' service is currently installed on only a few of Jet Airways' aircraft, but should be rolled out over their entire fleet over time. On-board Internet on flights in India is in the process of becoming a reality. 

From a passenger perspective, this is a great feature to have, though I expect this will move to a paid model in the future. For the airlines, while there is investment involved (technology, hardware and content costs), the technology is the same that will enable them to offer wi-fi Internet (which is a future source of revenue, surely), and at the same time, do away with seat-back TV screens (lesser weight means lower fuel costs). 

Looking ahead, this may well be the future of in-flight entertainment, since there are synergies and cost savings (though I expect business and first class will continue to have their large screen TVs). Therefore, this IFE initiative may well be extended to Jet's international network too, in the not-so-distant future.

However, and on the whole, this is an entirely positive development, and a key factor to differentiate legacy carriers from the budget airlines.

I hope to try out Jet Airways' wi-fi IFE soon and report back.

Readers: Have you used the wi-fi IFE service? Do let us know your experience in the comments below.

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