Passengers’ inflight journey plays a critical role in defining the overall travel experience. The range in technology and quality presents airlines with an opportunity for brand differentiation and a key aspect of this is inflight entertainment.
The ability to connect personal devices to the inflight experience is transforming the way passengers travel, and yesterday, United demonstrated how passengers can seamlessly connect their AirPods to the airline’s new seatback screens.
Jason Birnbaum, United’s Chief Information Officer said:
“United was the first U.S. airline to roll out Bluetooth, and when we saw Apple’s new AirPods features, we knew it could be a game changer for our customers and our employees.
People want to stay connected while they’re in the air, but there’s also a lot of interactions between our crew and customers – the technological combination of wireless connectivity, Conversation Awareness and Adaptive Audio result in a great experience for everyone.”
Image credit: United Airlines
United have highlighted that Apple’s new AirPod features like Adaptive Audio and Conversational Awareness complement the in air experience, cancelling out the “roar of plane engines” while facilitating easy communication with flight attendants.
The carrier currently has Bluetooth connectivity on more than 100 planes and expects it to be on about 800 aircraft by 2032. This continues a long trend in responding to the latest technology to elevate operations and experience. United has been integrating Apple products for over a decade now from deploying the first paperless flight deck with iPad in 2011 to adding Live Activities support for the United app on iPhones.
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