American Airlines has done a U-turn on seatback screens and is introducing them across its narrow body fleet.
It’s also joining the move to install more premium seating aboard its single aisle aircraft.
The airline moved away from in-flight entertainment in new aircraft orders in 2017, but today says it will equip its narrowbody fleet with state-of-the-art seatback screens at every seat on all new Airbus and Boeing aircraft deliveries starting in 2028, as well as on retrofitted aircraft.
AA says the 4K screens will be ‘among the largest’ on narrow body planes in North America, with new charging ports and Bluetooth audio pairing. The carrier plans to ‘roll out the new displays as quickly as possible, with full fleet installation expected to be complete by early next decade’. AA was among several airlines worldwide that assumed passengers would be happy to use their own devices for entertainment, but major rivals Delta Air Lines and United didn’t follow that and enhanced their IFE.
. . . Premium Push
AA says it is significantly increasing the number of premium and main cabin extra seats across its narrowbody fleet by retrofitting existing aircraft and receiving new aircraft deliveries with premium configurations.
Today, premium seating is approximately 25% of seats on its narrowbody departures and in the coming years, that number will grow to around 40%. AA is currently retrofitting its Airbus A319 and A320 fleets to add an additional row of first class. The carrier says its refreshed interiors will offer more storage, redesigned seats and enhanced lighting.