American Airlines Amps Up Its In-Flight Entertainment
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American Airlines has announced that it will add streaming video on more than 200 additional aircraft in its domestic mainline fleet. The airline’s American Spotlight streaming service will be extended to its fleet of Airbus A319s, A320s and A321s.
American has already equipped more than 500 aircraft with embedded seatback systems and American Spotlight streaming entertainment, but these new installations will be on aircraft which have no in-flight entertainment onboard or those that have overhead IFE. Passengers can access the streaming content on domestic flights through the Gogo entertainment portal without signing up for the Wi-Fi service or having to download an app before boarding.
To celebrate the introduction of this streaming video, American Airlines is offering passengers six complimentary movies through June 30: Big Hero 6, Captain America, Frozen, Guardians of the Galaxy, Into The Woods and Maleficent. The airline’s passengers can also stream free exclusive programming from NBC Universal on seatback and overhead entertainment on aircraft with these systems installed. In all, passengers can browse through a combination of free and paid content which includes around 200 movies and 200 television shows.
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We talked with Brian Richardson, director of In-flight Entertainment and Connectivity at American Airlines, about the airline’s plans to extend its video streaming service on international routes. Internationally, American already offers free in-flight entertainment on its embedded IFE systems. The current expansion will be on American’s 767-300 and 757s, including former US Airways aircraft. Streaming entertainment on these aircraft will be hosted through the in-flight Wi-Fi portal by Panasonic, the airline’s international IFE/IFC supplier. “We’re making sure all our fleet has entertainment,” says Richardson.
“We see overhead and wireless entertainment working together,” Richardson explains, adding that the comprehensive approach still gives passengers who don’t carry portable electronic devices the option of enjoying shared content. “Specifically for our free content, it was about providing very popular movies and a mix of different types of movies that appeal to a wide range of our customers. We curate some of the best content in the air.”
“We see overhead and wireless entertainment working together.” – Brian Richardson, American Airlines
With access to wide selections of content at home, American Airlines constantly updates their offering to make many options available for its passengers. “We have to consider what our customers have seen previously,” Richardson says. “These folks could possibly have seen everything, so the wide variety of content and number of options for entertainment is very important to passenger experience onboard.”
Giving passengers choice is a priority for the airline. “In-flight entertainment is a touch-point opportunity for American to communicate its brand,” says Richardson. “It’s an important element of the passenger experience, which considers everything like our music on boarding and deplaning, the content, the in-flight entertainment systems, Wi-Fi, power ports. It’s all about giving passengers options and choice.”
He adds, “IFE services are part of our commitment to improve the passenger experience, which includes the $2-billion investment we’re making to improve our product in-flight and on the ground.” The $2-billion investment includes a number of passenger experience improvements including new aircraft interiors, a redesign of its Admirals Clubs around the world and the recent introduction of the 787 Dreamliner to its fleet.