Gambling in the Skies

Airlines have always been looking for ways to improve the entertainment package they offer their customers. A long flight becomes bearable when you can keep yourself occupied with a good movie in between the meals, snacks and drinks. But the good old movie has been upgraded many times. Airlines have been offering individual seat-back TV screens for over seventeen years, allowing passengers to choose from a selection of movies and TV shows. And ever since the individual screens were introduced, some airlines have been looking to take the next logical step in the evolution of flight entertainment – gambling in the skies.

The first airline to come up with the idea was Virgin Atlantic, which announced back in 1994 that flights between London and Hong Kong would feature games such as video poker, roulette and slot machines. The technology was available for passengers to play these games without leaving their seats, but legal issues prevented the airline from going ahead with the plan. In direct response to Virgin Atlantic’s efforts, the U.S. congress passed the Gorton amendment, which states that ‘an air carrier or foreign air carrier may not install, transport, or operate, or permit the use of, any gambling device on board an aircraft in foreign air transportation’. The law was straight-forward, and the in-flight gambling plan never took off for Virgin Atlantic.

Though the American law only applies to U.S. airspace, the Gorton Amendment kept most foreign air carriers from offering casino games in their aircrafts. Since the amendment includes a prohibition to even install or transport a gambling device, most foreign airlines chose to keep their planes free of such devices, even if there was only a slim chance they might enter U.S. airspace.

Singapore Airlines was the first to disregard the American law, and installed two slot machines at the back of a plane that was destined never to cross through U.S. territory. The slot machines were made of plastic, and were only two feet high, especially designed not to take up much space or weight. Swissair was next to follow, when it introduced onboard video gambling in the late 1990s. But a terrible tragedy ended these efforts. On Sep. 2, 1998, Swissair flight 111 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia. All 229 people on board were instantly killed. The resulting investigation concluded that the fire that brought the plane down originated in the onboard entertainment and gambling system.

Technology has greatly improved since the late 90’s, and the innovative Irish air carrier Ryanair plans to take advantage of new in-flight gambling opportunities. Since it never enters U.S. airspace, Ryanair is not bound by the U.S. law, so it currently offers lottery scratch cards. The cards are sold once the planes enter international waters, and only to residents of countries on Ryanair routes. But lottery scratchers are just the beginning.

Michael O'Leary, Chief Executive of Ryanair, believes revenue from in-flight gaming and gambling could eventually make air travel free. The airline’s business model has always been focused on selling tickets for as low as possible, while aggressively generating income through extra services. If his plans work out, O’Leary predicts that by the end of the decade more than half of Ryanair costumers would fly for free. "Ultimately, entertainment will be where the money is”, he said to reporters when announcing the plan.

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