Is PTV needed? No, I've done SYD-LAX without PTV 20 years ago... Would I consider doing it these days? Never... (Which rules UA out for me)0
Is it needed on a Trans-con in this day and age? I'd say yes... Some of the PER-East coast flights give 5 hours a push... For a good proportion of the world that is considered an international flight covering multiple countries.
An LCC could get away with no PTV's (their motto is you get what you pay for), a "Full Service" carrier which offers PTV on some flights but not others with no real price differentiation is not acceptible these days.
Actually a 5 hour flight is considered by most airlines to be short to medium, the fact they may overfly several countries is irrelevant. On these kind of flights you would be lucky to get any IFE at all. Take BA and their 767's for example. On routes in the 5 hour flight range, say LHR-Moscow or LHR-Athens you will find 767's that have not been refurbished, in fact they make Qantas's birds look new in comparison. On these flights you get audio and a main screen movie, provided of course the equipment actually works, which in my experience is a 50/50 chance. The refurbed 767's fly on BA's longer routes to Africa and the US, which is equiveilent to the routes where Qantas generally flies A330's that have the trappings. Getting back to BA once the flight drops below about 5 hours then you get no IFE at all, even if the aircraft is capable of it.
Looking at the pictures on the first page, what most of those aircraft have in common is they are used on longer flights, just like Qantas USED to use their 767's on, but now days the Qantas birds are essentially domestic with newish A330's operating the longer routes.
Most, if not all the other European airlines are the same. Come to Asia and you will find on short flights even airlines like Thai don't offer IFE on short to medium haul routes, aircraft dependent of course, but most of the aircraft that fly these routes are not fitted (A300/737 and short haul A330's). So by your definition Qantas, BA and Thai are not full service carriers.
Bottom line with Qantas is yes on the route to Honolulu where Qantas continues to use the 767 the aircraft could be better and should offer better IFE, preferably with personal screens. However on the other routes where Qantas uses their 767's they are no worse, and in many cases better than most other airlines on a like for like basis. Don't forget also that the 767's are meant to be going, replaced by the 787's. So would seem silly to do a refurb on high cycle aircraft with new aircraft coming soon.
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