0 min left

American Pulls Seat-Back Screens From New 737 Aircraft

Executives cite statistics that “90 percent of passengers” fly with devices.

Noting data that more passengers than ever board with electronic devices capable of receiving video, American Airlines will remove seatback screens from four new aircraft set to fly in 2017. Bloomberg reports that the screens will not be present on the new deliveries of Boeing 737-MAX airframes from the factory.

Instead of offering entertainment through a seat back screen, American is investing in a wireless delivery system for in-flight entertainment. Much like other systems employed by Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, flyers would connect to an in-flight wireless internet system to access entertainment options. Although the entertainment would be free to access, passengers would have to pay a yet-to-be-disclosed fee for internet access.

“More than 90 percent of our passengers already bring a device or screen with them when they fly,” American said in an internal statement to employees, as quoted by Bloomberg. “Those phones and tablets are continually upgraded, they’re easy to use and, most importantly, they are the technology our customers have chosen.”

The move follows a greater trend in commercial aviation while going back on a promise made by American chief executive Doug Parker in 2016. Prior to the decision to strip video screens from the new 737-MAX aircraft, Parker vowed to keep screens on aircraft in order to make the airline “more competitive.” During the same time, American fought with in-flight internet provider Gogo to produce a faster internet experience for passengers.

American has not announced whether future deliveries of 737-MAX aircraft would also be devoid of seatback screens. The screen-based in-flight entertainment system will remain on select domestic American flights, including three-cabin A321 aircraft, as well as international-bound flights.

Comments are Closed.
22 Comments
C
chrisboote January 4, 2018

"I’d be extremely surprised if American decide to charge for access to their own in-flight entertainment." Really? I cannot for one moment imagine that they would forego another chance to gouge passengers

T
ThatAdamGuy February 5, 2017

Wonder if the seatbacks will have holders for phones & tablets. That'd seem to make a lot of sense in this context. That, and USB or regular power to every seat, even in Economy (one can dream, right? :-)

P
powderhound February 2, 2017

Yuck. Another bad move for passengers. We dont want to have to hold our small screens to watch a two hour movie; at least many of us dont.

C
chadbag February 1, 2017

Thanks AA for letting me know who NOT to fly when I fly domestically. While I have not tried the AA version of IFW over WiFi, I have tried other carrier's, and universally the experience was bad. It took 10s of minutes if not longer to be able to get a connection, which would then freeze up within minutes on the last one I was on (unfortunately an international flight, i.e., long). My kids could not watch the movies they wanted and were unhappy, and I also could not watch. Not enough capacity, crappy experience, and a small phone screen does not compare to even a small seat back screen. My very last international flight was on SAS *with* seatback screens and it was wonderful. That is compared to my previous experience on United to and from Tokyo. I also tried some Delta domestic IFE on my own device and it was a poor experience, though better than the United.

G
Grog January 30, 2017

Give me a USB port and I'm happy.