The Best US Airlines for Inflight Entertainment

Inflight entertainment makes a flight that is 5 hours long go by much faster. It keeps us occupied throughout the entire flight so we don’t sit there thinking that you have never been so bored in your entire life. It elevates the airline satisfaction ratings. But which airlines in the United States have the best inflight entertainment? Obviously, some airlines don’t have as good of an inflight entertainment system as others do, or on as many aircraft as another airline has. I will break this article down into two main parts – comparing the three legacy carriers (American, Delta, and United) and comparing the rest of the airlines of the US (JetBlue, Alaska, Southwest, etc…) to each other. Please note that I will not be including wifi in my post today – only entertainment systems which provide video content. 

The Types of Inflight Entertainment:

Personal On Demand: This is the best type of inflight entertainment since it is simply the easiest. There are televisions in the seat in front of you and you can watch either on demand or live tv throughout the flight. It is featured on most long haul aircraft, although some short haul aircraft have them.

Personal Device Entertainment: Personal device entertainment is where via an inflight wifi system, you can stream either on demand or live content to your mobile device or laptop. It is featured on many airlines on shorter haul flights within the United States.

A Screenshot of what Personal Device Entertainment looks like on United

Main Screen Entertainment: Main screen video screens feature video shown on TVs which either pop down from the ceiling or are placed at the front of the cabin. Main screen video screens are mostly featured on older airplanes, and have mostly been phased out either in favor of personal device or personal on demand entertainment. Main screen entertainment is really not ideal, so I will not be including it as video entertainment, as it is really hard to watch and most likely you will have to watch a movie that you are not interested in.

No Entertainment: While most airlines feature some form of inflight entertainment on a lot of aircraft, most ultra low cost carriers don’t. Spirit Airlines, Frontier Airlines (although they used to), and Allegiant Air (the three US ultra low cost carriers) don’t feature any type of inflight entertainment on any aircraft. That is because the ticket prices are so low, that as a consequence, entertainment is not provided. 

Airlines I am Considering:

• Alaska Airlines
• Allegiant Air
• American Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• Frontier Airlines
• Hawaiian Airlines
• JetBlue
• Southwest Airlines
• Spirit Airlines
• United Airlines

Three Legacy Airlines:

American Airlines: 

An American Airlines Boeing 757-200

American features personal on demand on all Boeing 777s, 787s, Airbus A330s, and on some Airbus A319s, A321s, and Boeing 737s. American features personal on demand on all Airbus A320s, and on some Airbus A319s, A321s, 737s, MD80s, Bombardier CRJ 700/900s, and Embraer E175s. American features overhead screens on all Boeing 757s and 767s. American features no entertainment on all Embraer ERJ145s, Bombardier CRJ 200s, and Embraer E190s.

Approximate Percentages

% of aircraft with on demand entertainment – 80% 

Delta Air lines: 

Delta Air Lines Aircraft in Portland

Delta Air Lines features personal on demand entertainment on all Airbus A319s,  A321s, A330s, Airbus A350s, Boieng 737s, 767s, and 777s, and on some Airbus A320s and Boeing 757s. Delta features wifi on all aircraft in its mainline fleet and on some CRJ700s and on all CRJ900s, E170s, and E175s. On all aircraft which feature wifi, personal device entertainment is available. There is no entertainment or wifi on all CRJ200s and on some CRJ700s.

Approximate Percentages

% of aircraft with on demand entertainment – 88%

United Airlines: 

A United Airlines Boieng 757-200

United features personal on demand entertainment on all Boieng 757, Boieng 767s, Boeing 787s, and on some Boeing 777s. United features onboard DirecTV for purchase on some Boeing 737s. Personal device entertainment is available on most mainline aircraft and on all CRJ700s, E170s, and E175s. There is no entertainment available on all CRJ200s and E145s.

% of aircraft with video entertainment – 76%

The Legacy Carriers – Ranked

In terms of the percentage of planes with inflight entertainment, you might see that United is last. That is because they have more 50 seat regional jets than any of the other airlines. However, I would rank United as having better entertainment than American. Why? American has no entertainment (besides main screen video, which is pretty awful for a long flight) on its 757s and 767s, which are used on long flights. Since United’s planes without entertainment are regionals and American’s are transatlantic aircraft, I rank United above American in terms of entertainment. As for Delta, they are the clear winner of the legacy airlines.

1. 1. Delta Air Lines
2. 2. United Airlines
3. 3. American Airlines 

The Other US Airlines:

Southwest:

Southwest Boeing 737-800, as seen from the Mobile Lounge

On all airplanes, Southwest features personal device entertainment with live TV. For free, passengers can watch live TV and a select number of TV shows. Passengers can also purchase movies to keep themselves entertained for longer flights. I personally love that unlike airlines such as American or United, Southwest features free entertainment on all of the flights (including the very short ones) they operate.

% of aircraft with video entertainment – 100% personal device entertainment

Alaska:

Alaska Airlines Embraer E175

On most Airbus A320 series aircraft, free personal on demand entertainment is available. On all 737s and on retrofitted Airbus aircraft, fee personal device entertainment is available to access via a device. On longer flights on the 737, passengers can rent tablets in case they do not have a personal device to stream entertainment to. Alaska features no form of inflight entertainment on its Dash 8 Q400s which are operated by Horizon Air.

% of aircraft with video entertainment – 87% of aircraft have personal device or personal on demand entertainment (all except for Q400s)

JetBlue:

JetBlue Embraer E190 in JetBlue’s Speial Blueprint livery

JetBlue is probably the best airline in terms of consistent entertainment. On all of their aircraft (including their Embraers), JetBlue features personal on demand entertainment (seat back screens) including live TV with free wifi. By having personal on demand entertainment available for free on all flights (including the shortest ones), JetBlue is probably the best airline in terms of in flight entertainment.

% of aircraft with video entertainment – 100% personal on demand entertainment

Hawaiian: 

Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A321neo

On all Airbus A330s, Hawaiian features personal on demand entertainment. On all Airbus A321NEOs, personal device entertainment is available. On all 767s tablets with pre loaded entertainment are available for free in first class and are available for a fee in economy class. On 717s and ATR 42s, entertainment of any sorts is not available, although they are only operated on short inter island flight.

% of aircraft with video entertainment – 58% 

allegient, Frontier, and Spirit

A Spirit Airlines Airbus A320

All three airlines (Allegiant, Frontier, and Spirit) have no sort of inflight entertainment on board, so if you don’t want to be bored, you should bring a book or an iPad (with downloaded contend) to keep you entertained. Frontier used to have live TV on board, although they got rid of that when they became an ultra low cost carrier.

% of aircraft with on demand entertainment – 0%

The Final Ranks:

You might think that in the final ranks for entertainment for US airlines, I would just go by the percentages of aircraft which have on demand or personal device entertainment. Well, I am not. I am also including which type of aircraft (long haul, short haul, regional) have entertainment, how large the airline is, and what type of entertainment that airline has on a specific plane. Please note that the rankings are pretty close, as most US airlines have pretty good forms of inflight entertainment. In these rankings, I will include every US airline which I have mentioned above. Well, here are the top US airline in terms of inflight entertainment (according to me, this can be subjective):

1. 1. JetBlue 

2. 2. Southwest Airlines

3. 3. Delta Airlines

4. 4. Alaska Airlines

5. 5. United Airlines

6. 6. American Airlines

7. 7. Hawaiian Airlines

8. Last Place: Allegiant, Frontier, and Spirit – They have no inflight entertainment 

Conclusion:

While most US airlines do offer inflight entertainment, some airlines don’t have it on as many planes as other airlines. To Allegiant, Frontier, and Spirit: please add personal device entertainment to your aircraft soon, even though you are ultra low cost carriers. I do commend JetBlue for having personal on demand entertainment on every one of their planes – especially since they only have narrow bodies. 

What do you think of my rankings of US airlines with inflight entertainment?