American Airlines Is Adding 4K TVs to Seatbacks. Here’s When You’ll Be Able to Watch.
The airline dropped seatback screens over a decade ago, betting flyers would just use their phones. Now it’s reversing course.
You settle into your seat, buckle in and stare ahead at a tray table. For American Airlines flyers, the situation was no bueno. But that will change. The airline is finally bringing back seatback screens, more than a decade after ditching them on the bet that passengers would just use their own devices, according to . The new screens will feature 4K displays and start appearing on new Boeing and Airbus deliveries in 2028, with a full retrofit across existing planes expected to wrap by the early 2030s.
“The technology has advanced so much from when we made this decision more than a decade ago,” said Heather Garboden, American’s chief customer officer.
The move is part of a push to close a profit gap among the major airlines. American reported a $71 million profit last quarter, compared with $805 million at United and $1.6 billion at Delta. Alongside the screens, American is adding more first-class seats and extra legroom across its fleet. CEO Robert Isom has said the airline is also planning new business-class suites on refurbished Dreamliners and is shopping for new wide-body planes from Boeing and Airbus.
You settle into your seat, buckle in and stare ahead at a tray table. For American Airlines flyers, the situation was no bueno. But that will change. The airline is finally bringing back seatback screens, more than a decade after ditching them on the bet that passengers would just use their own devices, according to . The new screens will feature 4K displays and start appearing on new Boeing and Airbus deliveries in 2028, with a full retrofit across existing planes expected to wrap by the early 2030s.
“The technology has advanced so much from when we made this decision more than a decade ago,” said Heather Garboden, American’s chief customer officer.
The move is part of a push to close a profit gap among the major airlines. American reported a $71 million profit last quarter, compared with $805 million at United and $1.6 billion at Delta. Alongside the screens, American is adding more first-class seats and extra legroom across its fleet. CEO Robert Isom has said the airline is also planning new business-class suites on refurbished Dreamliners and is shopping for new wide-body planes from Boeing and Airbus.
