United has announced the addition of full seasons of select Apple TV+ originals, available on the airline’s IFE systems and the United app. This will give travelers more options to kill time on board with plenty more entertainment selections.
Passengers will be able to watch full episodes of “…award-winning shows such as Severance, Shrinking, Ted Lasso, Slow Horses and Silo and more.” This will especially be a nice offering on long-haul flights, where watching full seasons is very reasonable given the long flight time.
This is a great passenger experience addition for United, and I can see the benefits for Apple TV as well, as they will have the opportunity to reel in subscriptions from passengers who wish to continue watching the shows they couldn’t finish during the flight.
“Apple creates groundbreaking original series, and United travelers are going to love watching fan-favorite Apple Originals for free on their next flight,” said Mark Muren, United’s Managing Director of Product, Identity and Loyalty. “We’re setting a new standard for a premium inflight experience, and our first-of-its-kind collaboration with Apple TV+ gives fliers more high-quality content options on the latest high-definition seatback screens.”
This move highlights an important piece of onboard passenger experience I’ve been talking about for a while: options. It’s very easy to say, “well, who needs these Apple TV+ shows when passengers can watch them on their personal devices using Wi-Fi anyway?”
I’ve talked about this before with inflight Wi-Fi, that the best experience comes when passengers can choose between entertainment on their devices using free Wi-Fi and entertainment on the seatback screen. Having these options helps passengers feel like they’re on the ground, which is nice when you’re stuck inside a small metal tube for many hours.
This Apple TV+ offering is the same idea. Sure, United could have let passengers stream it on their own, especially as they introduce high-speed Starlink Wi-Fi soon, but the key here is the option. Not everyone has Apple TV+, and maybe there’s a customer who’s been curious about a certain show for a while. Being able to scroll through a long list and choose something you like is a positive passenger experience.
As someone who has American Airlines as my main airline, this is an area I wish the executives would change their mindset on. I’m actually sure they realize the value it brings in passenger experience, but I’m also sure the question mark for them lies in how much the investment would return. Maybe one day…
In the meantime, this is a great addition for United’s IFE, and I’m happy to see the improvements with the Next refurbishments and new inflight offerings.
Featured image by United Airlines.
