TravelingForMiles.com may receive commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on TravelingForMiles.com are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. TravelingForMiles.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers.
Some links to products and travel providers on this website will earn Traveling For Miles a commission which helps contribute to the running of the site – I’m very grateful to anyone who uses these links but their use is entirely optional. The compensation does not impact how and where products appear on this site and does not impact reviews that are published.
American Airlines, today, continued its recent trend of following Delta like a sheep following its shepherd…..but at least this time the move is a positive one for flyers. Delta has been offering its customers 100% free in-flight entertainment on all 2-class aircraft since the beginning of July and now American Airlines is proudly announcing the same thing….sort of.
The American Airlines press release reads:
FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 09, 2016 – American Airlines (Nasdaq:AAL) is continuing to elevate the customer experience by adding complimentary premium movies, TV shows, music and games in the Main Cabin on all domestic flights offering seatback entertainment systems or Wi-Fi. Beginning this month, customers will have unrestricted access to the best and largest content library among the U.S. carriers from their own device or seatback entertainment systems.
The release goes on to say:
Customers traveling on American flights will be able to enjoy premium shows like HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and “Silicon Valley” as well as new movie releases such as “Captain America: Civil War,” “The Boss” and “The Lobster.” Available inflight entertainment will vary by aircraft type. Nearly 300 of American’s aircraft have seatback entertainment, with more being added every month. All American domestic mainline aircraft and two-class regional jets offer in-flight Wi-Fi. Customers can download the American Airlines mobile app to access this free, premium entertainment.
Ok, leaving aside the point that Delta pretty much forced American’s hand on this one, this is good news for American Airlines flyers (we needed some!)…or at least those flyers on aircraft with seat-back entertainment.
According to this Planespotters.net webpage American Airlines currently has 947 active aircraft so, if according to American, “nearly 300 of American’s aircraft have seatback entertainment” that leaves over 647 that don’t…..or over 68% of the fleet.
If American is only referring to aircraft that regularly fly domestic routes (i.e. not the wide-bodied aircraft) then Planespotters shows that the airline has 799 of those and that would still leave over 499 aircraft (62% of the narrow-body fleet) without seat-back entertainment – not exactly impressive is it?
Let’s not forget that Delta has been offering 100% free entertainment on nearly 90% of its aircraft for over a month….so that pretty much puts today’s American Airlines announcement into context.
