American Airlines, the pioneer of screenless economy seats over a decade ago, has joined the U-turn that took place shortly after and will add screens to its fleet again.
At the time, in 2014, American looked like a pioneer among American mainline carriers, and was joined by United in a move that was aimed at cost-saving both for the units and for the fuel penalty of their extra weight. American’s then-CEO Doug Parker argued that it made sense because most passengers had their own personal devices with them. Screens remained in premium classes, however.
Delta and JetBlue never followed, and United returned to screens in 2021. Now, American says it will not only install screens in its single-aisle planes, both new and existing, but that they will be the largest in economy class of any carrier. The new screens will also have USB-C charging ports and Bluetooth. The charging ports are increasingly important as airlines ban inflight use of power banks.
In addition to the screens, American is also following the trend of Delta and United in adding more business, first-class and extra legroom seats in its configurations, hoping to shed its reputation as the most spartan of the legacy carriers.
