American Airlines Eliminating Seat-Back Screens, Improving Wi-Fi

On Tuesday, American Airlines announced that it will be eliminating seat-back screens in its new single-aisle Boeing 737 Max airplanes scheduled to debut in the airline’s fleet later this year.

According to CNN.com, instead of focusing its assets on installing seatback monitors which will be obsolete within a few years, American Airlines is teaming with Gogo and Via Sat to upgrade its satellite-based, high-speed internet connectivity on its planes.

Officials from American Airlines said 90 percent of passengers already bring their own devices aboard, and upgrading the Wi-Fi service will allow customers to stream from services like Netflix and Amazon.

While the airline will charge for using the improved Wi-Fi, all of the live television channels, stored TV episodes and movie libraries previously available on the seat-back screens will now be stored on an onboard streaming server which passengers will be able to access on their own devices.

In addition, the removal of the screens, their wiring harnesses and power boxes will result in more fuel-efficient planes and more legroom for passengers. American joins other top carriers like United Airlines and Alaska Airlines that have also eliminated seat-back monitors from many new planes.

American Airlines will still keep the seat-back screens in its current-generation Boeing 737s and Airbus A321s, as well as its twin-aisle Boeing 777s, Boeing 787s, Airbus A330s and Airbus A350s.

As for the focus on improved Wi-Fi, American Airline is following the lead of other airlines like JetBlue Airways, Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines that have announced a renewed focus on outfitting their planes with high-speed internet access.

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