In early 2025, American Airlines announced it would reverse course on its strategy, and become more premium, as it fell further and further behind the competition. We’ve seen the airline make lots of (individually) minor announcements since then, all intended to improve the passenger experience.
Well, today American has made its single biggest passenger experience announcement since then, as the airline has decided to again install seat back screens on all narrow body aircraft, a major departure from the carrier’s strategy in recent years. This had been rumored for some time, and is now official.
Separately, American has committed to greatly increasing the number of premium seats in its narrow body fleet (including both first class and Main Cabin Extra), which I’ll cover in a separate post.
In this post:
American installing seat back TVs on all narrow body planes
American will start installing seat back TVs on all of its narrow body Airbus and Boeing planes (in other words, everything except regional jets). These new installations build on the more than 140 long haul aircraft that already have seat back TVs.
American is promising a next generation platform offering stunning picture quality, seamless connectivity, and personalized content. Specifically, American states that it will offer:
- Industry leading screen sizes, among the largest offered on narrow body aircraft in North America, with large format premium displays
- 4K technology with brilliant color, contrast, and clarity, for immersive viewing
- Expanded content and partnerships, with access to a broad selection of movies, TV, music, games, and content, with the opportunity to introduce new experiences and partnerships
- A personalized entertainment experience, with tailored movie and show recommendations, and interactive, enhanced flight maps, with destination information and real time insights
- USB-C charging ports at every seat, to help keep devices charged
- Bluetooth audio connectivity, allowing passengers to pair their wireless headphones with the entertainment
Keep in mind that American is also going to start introducing Starlink Wi-Fi as of early 2027, so the airline is promising a much more comprehensive system for staying connected inflight.
Here’s how American Chief Customer Officer Heather Garboden describes this:
“We’re making one of the most significant investments in the onboard experience in our history. From next-generation seatback entertainment at every seat to substantially more premium seating options, these enhancements will give our customers more ways to relax, stay connected and enjoy their journey.”
When will American install seat back TVs on narrow body planes?
Unsurprisingly, we’ll have to be patient. American will begin installing seat back TVs on narrow body planes as of 2028. Specifically, we’ll see it installed on newly delivered Airbus and Boeing narrow body planes as of then, and that’s also around the time that we should see a retrofit of existing aircraft.
American is promising to roll out these new displays “as quickly as possible,” with full fleet installation expected to be completed by the early 2030s. So I would expect it’ll be at least five to six years from now before American completes this project, best case scenario.
My take on American’s reversal on inflight entertainment
If you ask me, today’s announcement is American’s single biggest investment in the passenger experience since the airline announced its strategy shift over 18 months ago. In general, it’s fantastic to see this, as it’s a step in the right direction, in terms of catching up with the competition. Now, a few thoughts…
First of all, this announcement is good for “vibes” among both customers and employees, but it’s unlikely to materially change anything about American’s financial situation or the competitive dynamics for several years. This project will only start in 2028, and that’s a best case scenario timeline, with it taking into the 2030s for the project to be complete. Admittedly this is true of just about all improvements in the airline industry, since almost nothing happens overnight.
I guess American needed to do this to catch up with the competition, but one wonders how much this will actually change passenger loyalty in the long run, outside of American’s core hubs.
The biggest issue is that American has completely squandered the past decade — the airline went from installing seat back TVs, to ripping them out years later, to installing them again years later. This is just absolutely wild to me. While I think the decision to install seat back entertainment is the right move, it just seems like there’s no accountability here.
The issue is that when you have two competitors who are working hard to improve, it’s really difficult to make up for a decade that was completely wasted when it comes to passenger experience investments, especially given the long horizon for any projects in the airline industry.
I have to imagine that American’s fairly new Chief Commercial Officer, Nat Pieper (who seems like a great guy), was behind this decision. He was at Delta back in 2009-2015, and was head of fleet at the airline, and that’s largely when decisions were made to introduce seat back TVs. I have a lot more faith in him than I do in American CEO Robert Isom.
Either way, this is a huge step in the right direction, especially along with increasing the number of first class and extra legroom seats. However, American still has a lot of ground to make up when it comes to customer service, reliability, its long haul route network, etc.
Bottom line
American Airlines has announced that it will introduce seat back entertainment throughout its narrow body fleet, with among the largest screens in North America, bluetooth audio, etc. The project will start in 2028, and is expected to be completed in the early 2030s.
This is a step in the right direction, and is arguably American’s biggest passenger experience improvement announcement to date. The catch is that when you’re so far behind, it’s not easy to catch up, especially as competitors are also improving.
What do you make of American reversing course on seat back entertainment?
I would think it will be the mid 2030s before this is completed and I would doubt AA is going to put money into it's first generation 738s, LUS 319s, 320s and the older LUS 321s. Most of those a/c will be gone by 2035.
I can see AA starting with the 321neos since they are newer and often found on longer routes. The LUS 319s and 320s are often used on short hops. You really do not need IFE on CLT/ILM or CLT/CHS.
A comment so nice, you said it thrice!
In celebration of AA Day, I've even logged in and out once or twice to try and use the Helpful Heart(TM)!
I would think it will be the mid 2030s before this is completed and I would doubt AA is going to put money into it's first generation 738s, LUS 319s, 320s and the older LUS 321s. Most of those a/c will be gone by 2035.
I can see AA starting with the 321neos since they are newer and often found on longer routes. The LUS 319s and 320s are often used on short hops. You really do not need IFE on CLT/ILM or CLT/CHS.
I would think it will be the mid 2030s before this is completed and I would doubt AA is going to put money into it's first generation 738s, LUS 319s, 320s and the older LUS 321s. Most of those a/c will be gone by 2035.
I can see AA starting with the 321neos since they are newer and often found on longer routes. The LUS 319s and 320s are often used on short hops. You really do not need IFE on CLT/ILM or CLT/CHS.
I would think it will be the mid 2030s before this is completed and I would doubt AA is going to put money into it's first generation 738s, LUS 319s, 320s and the older LUS 321s. Most of those a/c will be gone by 2035.
I can see AA starting with the 321neos since they are newer and often found on longer routes. The LUS 319s and 320s are often used on short hops. You really do not need IFE on CLT/ILM or CLT/CHS.
What is so rich is Heather Garboden is the one who made the decision with Devon May (current CFO) 10 years ago to forgo TV's as they believed it was a waste of money and passengers didn't care.... Finance still runs AA
Can someone please explain to me why AA thought that a picture of someone trying to connect bluetooth headphones to a screen with tiny instructions that take up the top left corner of the screen (leaving the rest of the screen blank) displayed the level of technological innovation that they are looking to promote with this announcement.
Literally a picture that provokes irritation and rage when they are trying to correct the irritation and...
Can someone please explain to me why AA thought that a picture of someone trying to connect bluetooth headphones to a screen with tiny instructions that take up the top left corner of the screen (leaving the rest of the screen blank) displayed the level of technological innovation that they are looking to promote with this announcement.
Literally a picture that provokes irritation and rage when they are trying to correct the irritation and rage of their idiotic decision to rip these screens out over the past years.
JonNYC always has the scoop on AA. Too bad there isn't a similar insider for UA or DL.
I've gotten used to not having screens on AA. If the interface is better than streaming on my personal device then I'll go back to their screens.
Is AA eliminating streaming on your personal devise when this is rolled out?
JonNYC also shares news about DL and UA, along with AA.
Now they're going to have to remove another olive from the salads for these savings
Not only should American fire every executive who signed off on removing the tvs, but they should be taken to court by the shareholders for gross negligence
Excellent! I book away from AA on transcon Y flights because of this (despite being Platinum). I can't be the only one
When AA removed screens, I thought it was the dumbest thing back in the day, and I'm happy they will bring them back, BUT I think its less important than ever with Starlink, they missed the premium boom when it was taking off, and while I think this is a step in the right direction,
Let's see if Starlink still exists as a company in 2030, when Elon has spunked the firm's reserves on a mission to build a stem cell research lab on Alpha Centauri or something.
Great. Now American, having fully missed the insane premium boom, may find itself running massive CapEx right in the middle of a weakening market. Talk about timing and a way to dig a grave.
#COTD
I was on a MH flight KUL-DEL last month, and they were also screenless in all classes. Fortunately I had downloaded stuff to watch on my phone, but there were a lot of pax in that 737 that had nothing to do for five+ hours.
AA should never have decided to remove the screens throughout the cabin. This was a Vasu Raja-sized mistake. Well, maybe not *that* bad, but it was a huge...
#COTD
I was on a MH flight KUL-DEL last month, and they were also screenless in all classes. Fortunately I had downloaded stuff to watch on my phone, but there were a lot of pax in that 737 that had nothing to do for five+ hours.
AA should never have decided to remove the screens throughout the cabin. This was a Vasu Raja-sized mistake. Well, maybe not *that* bad, but it was a huge miss.
Next maybe they can train their FAs not to treat passengers like gum on the bottoms of the FAs' shoes.
2030 is a long way away, so who knows they might reverse it again by then. Seems like a wildly expensive move to rip out all the screens and then put them back in, so hopefully this time it sticks.
I get that in any industry you need to pivot fast to survive, but in a few years they’ll probably be like: “Everyone has a foldable iPhone now that can connect to satellite 5G, so we’re removing IFE and Starlink altogether. For the passenger experience, obviously.”
this is the most visible admission that AA simply did not understand what mattered when B6 and DL figured it out 15 years ago.
that said, AA operates the highest percentage of its network on regional jets which will certainly not get AVOD.
Yes, this is really is a big deal for AA. United and American are finally catching up to jetBlue and Delta on these fronts (IFE/AVOD vs. BYOD, and complimentary WiFi).
you can still bring your own device on any airline; there were people that argued that BYOD was superior - and that may be your personal choice but it was never superior to not give people an option that other carriers provided.
I don't understand why people are obsessed with this. A device holder and Starlink are 10x more valuable than a screen, but I suppose I don't mind having the map on. Minor net positive as long as the far more important device holders stay.
Not minor; it's indicative of a broader correcting course at the airline. (Feel free to keep flying Alaska, Southwest, Frontier, Allegiant, Breeze, which do not have IFE/AVOD, or complimentary WiFi, on nearly all their aircraft.)
Yes, George, we know you have enough money to buy a tablet for every member of your family. Unlike you, the majority of working-class people can’t afford more than one iPad
George - 99% of passengers would rather have a TV than a device holder.
The seatback screen is a surprisingly important amenity that most passengers don't notice until it's gone. For an hour or so, BYOD probably does suffice. But seatback screens are still better - and most AA mainline flights are 2+ hours in length. Removing screens was a short-sighted and cheap looking move. Meanwhile, DL and UA doubled down on them, making AA look even worse. Now they're playing catch up.
ABOUT. FREAKING. TIME. To the naysayers and sane-washers carrying water for AA not having IFE/AVOD screens, friends, I'll take your apologies, now, please. Better to have them, and not even use them, than pretend that BYOD is 'premium.' Good on AA for slowly bringing these back.
Full circle!