Several US airlines are gradually removing passenger screens on their flights, as a matter of cost and convenience. According to the New York Times, American Airlines and United Airlines, two of America's largest airlines, will take screens off their new planes for short-haul distances, and others are planning to do so.
It's not such a strange decision, when we think that in the United States seat screens – theoretically called in-flight entertainment system – and the ability to connect to the Internet in-flight are common even on shorter flights. The first of the two circumstances has removed a certain exclusivity of the service, which instead remains in Europe, where screens are not so widespread. The second means that most passengers show up on the flight with a smartphone, tablet or laptop from which they can independently access films, music or video games. “Most people board their own devices, and they ignore what we offer them,” explains Peter Ingram, the chief commercial officer of Hawaii Airlines, who will not be installing in-flight entertainment systems on its new Airbus A321s.
Behind a choice like that of Hawaii Airlines there are also economic reasons: the in-flight entertainment systems cost up to 10 thousand euros for each seat – in recent years they have come out very advanced, even with the touchscreen – and as you know the airlines are careful to calculate the cost-benefit ratio for each service offered in flight.
We do not know exactly how many passengers will appreciate the removal of the screens from the front seats. Patrick Ligonde, an aviation expert and enthusiast who works in the sector, explains that as a passenger he finds it more comfortable to have a monitor directly in front of him, moreover hooked to a device that cannot discharge in the middle of the flight. Others note that commuters appreciate being able to have an extra screen available to relax when they have to work at low intensity.
Other airlines are going the other way, and are investing to offer more content to their passengers in flight or to enhance Wi-Fi. JetBlue, for example, is working on a revamped in-flight entertainment system to be installed on the new A321 models, the same ones on which Hawaii Airlines will not install any screens. “When we opened in 2000, every passenger could see live TV on the screen in front of them. It was something never seen before, and it's still part of our image, ”Mariya Stoyanova, JetBlue's head of product development, explained to the New York Times.
