On the longer (2h+) short haul flights I take I reckon at least 50% of the ET cabin are watching something on their personal device. Smartphone penetration at least for BA’s customer base is probably in the region of 99%.

It wouldn’t be unreasonable to suggest that the logical conclusion is that built in IFE will eventually get removed in long haul economy class at the very least. The savings from reduced weight and maintenance are just too irresistible for the accountants to ignore.

Posters who wail “well the WiFi never works for me” are missing the point. Initially, a local solution would be used.

A forward thinking airline would just install Starlink and do a volume deal with Netflix, where anyone using the platform via onboard WiFi would get unlimited access, via a co branded / white labelled portal. BA could even take over the ad space. The possibilities are endless really.

Ultimately the days of huge heavy increasingly unused seat back screens are numbered.