A few months ago, I was on an Air Canada flight and as we were settling in to our seats, the flight attendant announced that we would need the Air Canada app to stream in-flight entertainment on our own devices.

Many were perplexed. Myself included. What app? How can we get the app?

Turns out you had to download it before you boarded (there was no on-board wifi).

Fail.

BYOD is not a new phenomenon as many companies are moving towards this practice but is a newer trend in the airline industry.

More recently, I took a United flight but this time I was prepared. United sent out the following email:

with the information needed to “Bring Your Own Device”.

BYOD: Troubleshooting For Flight Attendants

Instead of upgrading their technology, it seems that airline companies are relying on the customers to bring their own device (which many would be doing anyway).

However, what I ended up observing on both flights was that attendants ended up having to troubleshoot connectivity and app issues….with not much luck.

Turns out United wasn’t that ready after all...the inflight-wifi didn’t work for many and in the end we were each awarded a $100 airline credit.

What do you think of the airline industry moving towards BYOD? Should flight attendants have to troubleshoot wifi in addition to their other duties?