In-Flight entertainment keeps the passengers happy and distracted, it’s a great time pass for the passengers especially who are traveling for more than 5 or 6 hours. But this is no more the case, as most of the planes have no seatback screens available anymore.

Well, yes you heard it right airplanes have been contracting their seats for quite a while, expecting to diminish the planes' weight and crush in more travellers. Be that as it may, recently, a few airlines have been going above and beyond in updating their seats. They're taking the seatback screens away' 

No More In-Flight Entertainment? But Why?

·         Cost Cutting is the major reason:

According to the airlines, these screens are very expensive to install. They generally cost around $10,000 per seat. Which is a huge amount. Moreover, it needs time to time updates and the maintenance cost of these screens is also very high. By removing the screens some airlines are looking at the standpoint of cost reserves.

·         Overweight of the seats:

The airlines claim that these screens are adding bulk weight to the seats. To reduce the weight of the flight as well as seat the aircrafts have removed these screens.

·         Customers now bring their own devices:

As per the airlines, most of the customers they see, they bring their own devices for entertainment. Almost everyone today is using a smart phone which includes everything, they prefer to listen to their own playlist or they to watch their own TV series according to their choices, so basically, they don’t rely on the in-flight entertainment. So, the airlines have decided to remove the screens from the seats.

But according to Research Analyst of Techsci Research, a market research organization, the airlines are separating those travellers who do not want to rely on their own device while travelling. Most of the passengers who travels, looks for in flight entertainment as t they make use of their smartphones when needed for the ground operation. Whenever a passenger travels he always makes sure that his/her seatback should have a screen for entertainment or may be just for time pass.

We can take an example that whenever we are travelling if for a shot duration we always make a choice of our seat at the time of collecting the boarding pass, because we always look for a comfort zone. So, same is the case for passenger who are travelling in long flights that they always look for a seat with screens to watch movies, TV shows or to listen music.

The other reason for not using the smart phones which according to the airlines everyone is carrying, that no one wants to drain their phones battery before getting down the flight. Not in every flight, especially in domestic flights, you can have a phone charger. So, no one is interested to use their own phones for the entertainment. If we don’t have a screen for entertainment we will be end up looking at other people, nothing else. Is this being what airlines wants us to do.

·         Business Man’s looks for In-Flight entertainment:

Business travellers have said there's no space to have a cell phone on their plate if they're working on their laptops, or if they're utilizing a tablet or cell phone for work, it's hard to utilize that for watching entertainment screens. Having the different screen is an advantage for them. By doing their work they can watch movies or listen to the music side by side. But if the flights don’t have these screens it’s not a good point for them.

Some flights are taking advantage of this:

Well, after listening to such news some airlines are trying to attract more and more customers by providing in-flight entertainment as well as other important services which the customer is not getting anywhere else. This is helping the competitors to maintain their customer bases.

In 2017, Delta took off free in-flight mobile messaging, and the aircraft is putting in new screens and making more substance accessible in-flight. Moreover, the company also mentioned that they are trying to provide more and more entertainment and comfort to their clients which they are getting on their finger tips on the ground, the same comfort the company is trying to give them in the sky.

As per Techsci Research, the In-flight Infotainment market is going to boost over the next five years due to increasing number of airlines and growing demand for in-flight entertainment. Moreover, this will boost the demand for touchscreens displays globally as well as in India. According to Techsci Research “IndiaTouchscreen Display Market By Technology, By Type, By Application, By End User, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2021”, touchscreen market in India is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 13% during 2016-2021.