Earlier this week, I woke up my phone, opened the YouTube app, and watched some sports highlights, before switching to Netflix and finishing up an old episode of the show. Arrested development. It was completely normal, except for the fact that we were cruising at 32,000 feet.
United Airlines is in the midst of installing Starlink internet across its fleet, and this was a test flight, meant to demonstrate how its SpaceX-powered satellite internet service can deliver broadband as fast as you can get it at home, even when flying at 580 mph six miles above the ground.
But United’s push to provide free high-speed Internet to its planes also underscores what will become a new reality as other airlines follow: The streaming wars will soon take to the skies.
Travelers, who were once limited to what was licensed on seatback screens (assuming they were even on a plane carrying them), will soon be able to bring their own entertainment, whether that’s TikTok, YouTube, Netflix, or Fortnite.
Airlines will adapt accordingly.
“It’s about choice,” says Andrew Nocella, United’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer, speaking to . Hollywood Reporter While standing under the tail of one of the company’s new 787-9 aircraft. “What we’ve discovered is that Starlink just means there’s another way to connect. So there are people who want to watch the back of the seat while they’re connected to their cell phone to text, while they’re connected to their iPad to do some work.”
He adds that United is developing new methods of entertainment that would combine high-speed Internet access with seat-back screens, which are being upgraded on its newer planes with larger screens and 4K video.
“There’s going to be a lot more we can do with Starlink and our seatback systems in the future, and we have a lot of really creative ideas,” he says. “When you combine seatback entertainment with Starlink technology, it opens up a world of possibilities that can only be opened up by airlines that have both of these combinations.”
In fact, United previewed what that could look like earlier this week, through a new partnership with Spotify. Subscribers to the streaming music platform can scan a QR code on the back of their seats and have all their playlists, podcasts and content available through the screen. United executives have been tight-lipped when asked if they’ve discussed similar integrations with the likes of Netflix or YouTube, but the ability clearly exists.
In-flight entertainment has become a surprising new front in the streaming wars, and a big business worth $300 million a year as well, as studios and streamers seek to sell their shows and movies to captive travelers.
Airlines have partnered with streaming services in recent years in a mutually beneficial relationship: The airlines get the content, and smaller offerings like Apple TV (United, American, Air France), Peacock (JetBlue) and Paramount+ (Delta) give travelers a taste of their programming. YouTube also signed a deal with Delta last year, bringing a selection of some creator shows to seatback screens.
For streamers, seat-back monitors have become an important marketing tool, exposing their programming to new, captive audiences. But it’s also a source of income, albeit modest in the grand scheme of things. In-flight entertainment has long been one of the primary windows to the movie industry, giving travelers early access to movies shortly after they leave the theaters, but long before they arrive home.
But would these travelers be captivated if they had full access to their streaming apps?
The advent of high-speed Internet may change that. Other airlines partnering with Starlink, such as Alaska Airlines and WestJet, encourage travelers to use their own devices to stream entertainment (particularly on short flights, with planes that lack seatback screens).
But the truth is that it will change what people do in heaven.
In the first few months of Starlink’s launch, one family got their home offer accepted, and one flier reached out to say he was “coding the vibe” of a new business idea (vibration coding technology uses AI coding tools to create new software), says David Kinzelman, United’s chief customer officer.
“When we announced our partnership with Starlink, we weren’t just looking to implement the playbook of ‘Let’s make Wi Fi better,’” he says. “We were looking to redefine what was possible with the online experience.”
But could this come at the expense of Hollywood, which has been reliant on the marketing exposure for in-flight entertainment, as well as the licensing revenues that accompany it?
Kinzelman framed it as a positive for movie fans. Before Starlink, it could take 45 days to add new films to its entire fleet, he said. Once they have the new internet service on every plane, he says they will be able to catch the latest movies the moment they are purchased, update them over the air from the cloud via Starlink, and have them across our entire fleet on the same day.
Whether travelers want to watch on those screens or on their own devices once the internet is fast and free enough is another story, and you can bet studios will be watching, lest the classic film and TV licensing window becomes the latest to expire.
