Why is Hawaiian Installing In-Seat Video?

(MoneyWatch)  Hawaiian Airlines has announced that when it starts taking delivery of its new A330 aircraft, it will outfit them with personal inflight entertainment at every seat. While it may sound like a given that an airline should put this type of system in its long haul fleet, I think the case is a special one for an airline like Hawaiian.

Hawai'i is a very unique market in that it's full of leisure travelers and there is a much smaller percentage of business travelers than most other domestic routes. The trans-Pacific market, which would be the beneficiary of this upgraded inflight entertainment product, is exclusively long haul. The shortest flight is nearly the same distance as a flight from LA to Philly, if that puts things in perspective. Right now, most of Hawaiian's flights fall in the 5 to 7 hour range since they don't operate east of Phoenix.

While it's certainly a decent haul, and Hawaiian likely has designs on even longer haul flying, it wouldn't make sense to simply put these screens in coach and use that as a differentiator. Flying to Hawai'i can be more of a commodity than other markets because the leisure traveler is so price sensitive. So I can't imagine these screens drawing any new traffic into the airline. That being said, it may still be a good idea.

If Hawaiian decides to charge for the use of these screens, then it could be a money maker for the airline. Historically, that wasn't possible, and we still don't see it very often in the international world, but paying for inflight entertainment has taken off domestically, and there's no reason others can't follow along. If Hawaiian charges for the service, then I think this is a good move. If not, well, it's probably a waste of money.