by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 2:55 PM ET, Wed January 22, 2025
United Airlines will introduce a handful of upgrades to the inflight entertainment experience on its flights in 2025 and beyond.
The carrier told The Points Guy (TPG) that it plans to add more screens to planes, offer new entertainment options and increase speed with regard to internet connectivity.
The news was shared with TPG by United’s Director of Inflight Entertainment, Dominic Green, during an interview.
Passengers can expect a variety of developments, such as an increasing number of aircraft featuring personal TVs.
Green told TPG that United has introduced its 600th aircraft that features seatback screens. Moreover, Green expects that United will “hit a thousand aircraft over the next couple of years that have seatback screens at every seat.”
Also noteworthy, the new screens are all 4K resolution. That makes the screens among the highest definition across the airline industry.
United has also introduced a new ‘Control Tower’ view to the seat back screens on its flights. This allows passengers to view the airfield around the plane, including surrounding planes on the tarmac and click on planes to view their call sign and operating airline.
This is a new offering that United is testing at the moment, according to Green. It is being operated in partnership with a FlightPath3D product that United licenses from a company called Betria Interactive.
United also intends to implement a regular series of software updates that will keep setback entertainment screens working bug-free, Green told TPG.
"We launched new UX [user experience] just over a year ago ... and we've already done three software updates since we launched that a year ago," Green said.
Additionally, United is continuing to work with Starlink to provide satellite internet service for all of its planes. This will take several years and the work has just begun. But Green told TPG that his team is looking at what the new, faster Wi-Fi will allow for when it comes to improved seat back screen experience.
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