By streaming content over wireless systems, passengers will have a wider array of content<br />and the carriers will not have to maintain screens because passengers will bring their own portable devices on board.<br />By the time next-generation planes are in service, the technology on them will already headed for obsolescence, Jason Rabinowitz,<br />the director of airline research for Routehappy — which among other things, tracks in-flight amenities — said in an interview.<br />Another financial incentive: Without the screens, carriers can install slimmer seats, which means they can accommodate more passengers<br />and earn more money, Brett Snyder, the author of the airline industry blog “Cranky Flier,” said in an interview.<br />Mr. Hoppe noted that carriers like Southwest Airlines had been promoting streaming content for eight years<br />and had never purchased planes with seat-back screens.<br />“The thing with the airline industry is nothing happens quickly,” Mr. Rabinowitz said.<br />“Rise of in-flight Wi-Fi aside, the zero screen purchases made by Southwest aligns with the fact<br />that many of the carrier’s flights are shorter in duration than the time it takes to finish a movie,” he said<br />Those seat-back screens that have long been part of in-flight entertainment systems are preparing to depart from many airplanes, experts say,<br />and will gradually be replaced by content streamed to passengers’ electronic devices through improved wireless service.
