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United Airlines is about to up its inflight entertainment offerings with full seasons of select Apple TV+ shows on more than 130,000 seatback screens and in the United app. Travelers can now binge award-winning shows like Severance, Shrinking, Ted Lasso, Slow Horses, Silo, and more while flying anywhere in United’s network.
This is the first time a US airline has partnered with Apple TV+ to make its premium originals available for free in full-season format. The featured Apple TV+ channel will start with the complete first seasons of Severance, Shrinking, Ted Lasso, Slow Horses, and Silo, with The Morning Show and Bad Sisters joining in September. New seasons and additional titles will roll out monthly (with more than 250 TV episodes, documentaries, and films) free for passengers.
The move builds on United’s investments in its inflight seatback experience. As part of the airline’s United Next plan, every seat will feature a seatback screen, including the new 27-inch Bluetooth-enabled 4K OLED displays, which are the largest on any US carrier. United expects to have more than 300,000 screens across its fleet as it takes delivery of hundreds of new aircraft and retrofits existing ones.
United passengers will be able to start an episode mid-flight and pick up where they left off on their next trip. This collaboration builds on United’s existing partnership with Apple. Its tech is also used for:
- Live flight updates for iPhone and Apple Watch: United was the first US carrier to offer Live Activities on iPhone. These deliver real-time boarding countdowns, gate changes, seat details, bag tracking, and more directly on the Lock Screen or Dynamic Island.
- Integrated AirTag support: Customers can now share the location of AirTags or other Find My accessories directly with United’s customer service teams to help locate mishandled luggage.
- Mobilized employees: iPhones and iPads equip United employees to communicate and problem-solve quickly throughout the travel experience.
Mark Muren, United’s Managing Director of Product, Identity and Loyalty, said:
Apple creates groundbreaking original series, and United travelers are going to love watching fan-favorite Apple Originals for free on their next flight. 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.”
Anthony’s Take: United continues to be the most tech-forward US airline. Its mobile app blows the others away and the other investments that it is making are great for the passenger experience.
(Image Credits: United Airlines and Apple TV+.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.