This is the one thing I always take on a flight

The saving grace for me of long-haul flights is the in-flight entertainment on seat-back screens, which have increased to a decent size these days on newer planes.

Airlines usually don’t serve popcorn, but they should.

Unfortunately, many airlines are talking about removing these screens. Qantas, for one, isn’t offering seat-back screens in economy on its new planes for domestic and some short-haul international flights.

I took a flight to Hobart recently on the new Qantaslink A220. I accessed the in-flight entertainment on my phone, which I propped on a handy pull-down tray in the back of the seat.

Watching movies and TV shows on my phone is fine, but I wouldn’t want to watch Frankenstein on it. And as much as I like the new Qantas economy seats, designed by Australian David Caon, I do love my movie fests on long flights.

The argument against seat-back screens is that people bring their own devices these days. The objective is to reduce weight and fuel consumption. But I also suspect the reality is that the regular maintenance of in-flight systems has fallen to the cost-cutting axe.

It’s clear these systems are getting old on some planes, including those operated by Qantas, judging by the number of times I’ve had to ask for my screen to be rebooted recently.

Sometimes, the in-flight entertainment totally breaks down, and you are left, literally, to your own devices.

This happened to me a couple of months ago, flying out of Paris on Emirates.

When I got to the airport, I could see it was blanketed in thick fog. Not to worry, nothing was said at check-in about a delay and I proceeded to the departure terminal.

There was still no visibility when we started to board on time. Not to worry, we took our seats and the flight attendants did their usual preparation for departure. I was seated right near the front door.

We didn’t move. The pilot said the fog we could all see was causing the delay. Not to worry, it would clear soon, and we’d be off.

Disturbingly, my entertainment screen didn’t work, nor did the screens around me. Not to worry, they’d reboot it and we’d be fine.

None of these things happened.

An IT guy came on board, as we were still at the gate. The poor man had to get the system up and running before the fog cleared, so we didn’t miss our slot for take-off.

As it turned out, the problem was complex, and the system needed several reboots.

In the end, we were stuck on the tarmac for three hours due to the fog. (I still haven’t worked out why they board passengers knowing there’s a delay, just to have them sit on the plane for hours.)

As fate would have it, the system finally rebooted just as our slot opened. I’ve never seen anyone more relieved than the valiant IT guy.

What fascinated me most, though, were the other passengers. The guy next to me had his laptop out. But most of the others in my section of economy were staring at the back of the seat in front of them, as if trying to magic it into working.

Were they “barebacking” or “raw-dogging”? Whatever it was, they seemed unprepared for hours without entertainment.

As frustrating as all this was (and nerve-wracking when it became clear many on board would miss their connections in Dubai), I had a trick up my sleeve. I had a book to read.

Very few others did. Not even a Kindle. I wondered if people had lost their ability to concentrate on text.

Along with an eye mask, I always bring a paperback with me when I travel. It’s a non-negotiable component of my survival kit.

I know they’re very retro, but I trust books.

They easily slip into my bag, they’re light (unless you’re reading War and Peace) and they don’t need to be recharged.

One downside is they don’t illuminate in low light. But if I leave my book behind in my seat pocket, it doesn’t cost a fortune to get a new one.

And think about this – if more children were given books to look at on a plane, we wouldn’t have to implore their parents to put their kid’s headphones on.

My idea of hell is to be stuck with only an in-flight magazine to read for a whole trip.

So, when the airline says BYOD, I say BYOB.