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WAEA 24th Annual Conference & Exhibition
9-12 September 2003
Washington State Convention & Trade Center

Session Articles

The Airline Perspective
Kent Craver (Continental Airlines), Sophie Vossenaar (KLM Royal Dutch Airlines), Michael Freedman (Qantas Airways Ltd.), and moderated by Jeff Klein (Jaguar Distribution Corporation).

Craver said that Continental is working to create a partnership with suppliers that benefits both the airline and the supplier, and that will ultimately benefit passengers. Rather than asking IFE suppliers to charge less, Craver prefers to work with suppliers to find other ways to lower overall costs, stating that both entities must be sensitive to their partners' needs.

Freedman stated that branding and packaging are the most important parts of his job as they communicate the "personality" of the product and the airline. "Branding is only as good as how hard you make it work on IFE," and should be used in all elements of entertainment, he emphasized.

Using KLM as a case history, Vossenaar illustrated some of the "strings you can pull" to meet the challenges of cost and time management, including purchasing rather than producing content, offering short-subject programs in place of films when appropriate, changing cycle frequency, and increasing revenue through sponsorships and advertising.