United air inflight entertainment download#

ItвЂ™s a вЂreverse halo effectвЂ™.ДЇortunately itвЂ™s now possible to stream video to embedded screens at seats, which cuts down on costs by two-thirds.Д«efore United decided to eliminate Directv featuring 100 channels of live satellite programming to choose from thatвЂ™s comparable to options available at home, this was a reason weвЂ™d book flights on that airline, even after everything else had gone to the dogs during the Jeff Smisek era. As a result itвЂ™s hard to imagine their international premium cabins are as good as they are (at least in terms of hard product). But if United indeed backs away from streaming-only domestic going forward American would be forced to listen to the internal voices at the company arguing for a return to seat back video because customer impressions of the airline are formed heavily by inflight entertainment.ДЄmerican Airlines is viewed more negatively than it should be because their domestic cabins seem вЂcheapвЂ™. If these planes simply fly routes United used to use Boeing 757s for, that wonвЂ™t carry nearly as much significance. He has either determined the airline is losing business to Delta because of this amenity, or plans to use Boeing 737 MAX aircraft on much longer routes where theyвЂ™ve traditionally felt they had little choice but to offer seat back video entertainment. He once tried to charge passengers for water. Kirby isnвЂ™t usually keen on passenger experience investments unless they can be clearly shown to move the needle on revenue. Scott Kirby, former President of US Airways-American Airlines and now at United, appears to be retreating from his effort to go with streaming entertainment only on narrowbody aircraft according to a report by Seth Miller. AmericanвЂ™s Airbus A320s wonвЂ™t all offer power at each seat until the end of 2021, so customers run through their battery and canвЂ™t watch a thing.

United air inflight entertainment download#

On American you have to download their mobile app to watch streaming content, something customers usually arenвЂ™t told until after theyвЂ™ve boarded and even after push back when itвЂ™s often too late.In most cases this means passengers watching movies on phones. They have eschewed screens to save money вЂ“ about a million dollars per aircraft вЂ“ offering streaming content that customers can view on their own devices. United and American have been moving in the opposite direction. TheyвЂ™re now over 700 aircraft offering seat back entertainment screens. Delta continues to double down on passenger entertainment not just for international flights but across its domestic fleet.