Air France is celebrating 60 years of inflight entertainment today, while United Airlines is reminding us that the battle for your attention at 35,000 feet is very much alive in 2026.
Air France Celebrates 60 Years Of Inflight Entertainment As United Adds New Peacock Channel
Air France says it introduced inflight entertainment on May 1, 1966, on flights between Paris and New York aboard the Boeing 707. Passengers were treated to what the carrier called a “Festival in the sky,” featuring music and the film Viva Maria in both French and English.
That was 60 years ago.
Today, United Airlines announced a new dedicated Peacock inflight entertainment channel featuring programming from NBCUniversal’s streaming platform, including The Traitors, All Her Fault, Poker Face, and other series rolling out in the months ahead.
Different era, same goal: keep passengers occupied.
Inflight Entertainment Has Come A Long Way
There was a time when a movie onboard meant one screen, one film, one schedule, and zero control.
If you did not like the movie, too bad, and as I look back on what IFE was like growing up for me, it was often too bad!
Remember Eye On American, the CBS-affiliated programming on American Airlines?
If the projector malfunctioned, everyone was out of luck. No pausing to go the the restroom either. Who can forget those RGB projectors on the older United 747s and 767s?
Then came overhead CRT screens, then seatback televisions, then touchscreens, then on-demand libraries, then streaming to personal devices, then Bluetooth-enabled systems, bigger monitors, sharper resolution, and content libraries that could, in theory, keep us occupied for months. We’ve come a long way in the last few years.
Today, Air France says it offers more than 1,500 hours of content on longhaul flights across tens of thousands of HD and 4K screens. United says it now offers more than 1,600 hours of content across more than 800 aircraft with seatback screens, plus streaming through its mobile app.
That would have sounded absurd in 1966!
United Understands That Screens Still Matter
American Airlines embraced the narrative for years that seatback screens are dead because everyone travels with a phone or tablet.
That was always nonsense. A good seatback screen remains a valuable amenitiy on a medium-haul or long-haul flight.
United seems to understand that…and that makes me think of my first ever-setback screen, which was on a United 777-200 flight in 1996. I’ll never forget being amazed that I had my own screen and could watch cartoons while eating a McDonald’s meal.
The airline says it now has more than 160,000 seatback screens in service and over 800 aircraft equipped with seatback displays, many with Bluetooth audio pairing. It is also introducing new aircraft with 27-inch 4K OLED monitors in Polaris Studio, the largest offered by any U.S. carrier. Eventually, every mainline aircraft will have a seatback screen, just like Delta and JetBlue.
Will American decide to play catch-up on this?
IFE Is Now A Competitive Weapon
Inflight entertainment used to be a novelty. Now it is part of the product…and also a powerful marketing tool.
A broken screen on a long-haul flight can ruin the experience while an IFE library with strong content can materially improve it. That is especially true as airlines keep densifying cabins. If the seat pitch disappoints, at least give passengers something good to watch to pass the time…
United adding Peacock content is smart because recognizable shows matter more than a giant library full of titles nobody wants (remember how United used to screen the oddest movies on the overhead monitors?). It’s also good business, with the goal of United Kinective to careful observing your viewing patterns and then prepare targeted ads that bankroll the IFE systems themselves.
Air France celebrating its history is also smart because it reminds passengers that onboard entertainment did not happen by accident. Airlines invested in it, and the best carriers still do.
CONCLUSION
Air France is looking backward today, United is looking forward, and both are making the same point that inflight entertainment still matters. From communal movie screenings on a Boeing 707 to Bluetooth-enabled 4K seatback screens with Peacock originals, airlines are still competing for your attention after takeoff (and trying to distract from taking away your legroom!).
top image: Air France
The revolutionary AF, the visionary UA!
The beautiful B707 is widely remembered as the aircraft that launched the jet age. AF began operating the B707 in 1960, marking its entry into the jet age. By the end of 1982, the flag carrier of France’s last B707s were retired.
And voilà a little more “positive nostalgia” about AF and the B707 → https://www.facebook.com/goldenageofairtravel/posts/air-france-magazine-ad-featuring-the-newly-introduced-boeing-707-and-american-ac/1266347363535201/
Well, there is no doubt that more than a prominent airline, AF remains a purveyor of dreams, true to its motto: “Air France loves cinema”.
AF and UA are both still flying high today, and that’s truly terrific!
What is this “seatback entertainment” you speak of?
-AA executive suite
DL does not have screens on the 717s.
True. DL B717s do not have seatback entertainment screens. Instead, they feature Delta Studio for streaming entertainment directly to your personal device via Wi-Fi.
Correct, but the article states “every mainline aircraft will have a seatback screen, just like Delta and JetBlue.”. I am pointing out that Delta does NOT have a seatback screen on all of their mainline aircraft, as the 717 does not have them.
Ah, the single screen brings back memories. And the earphones with the tubes that carried the sound to your ears stethoscope-style.
TWA (Trans World Airlines) pioneered scheduled in-flight entertainment by introducing the first regular, full-length movies on July 19, 1961, on a flight from New York to Los Angeles. Developed by David Flexer of Inflight Motion Pictures, this system initially used a 75-pound projector to show films, such as By Love Possessed, to first-class passengers.
True. Those were among the golden times of TW and the B707!
True …TWA pioneered and was the first with inflight motion pictures way before Air France or anyone else. It’s a shame Greenmailer Carl Icahn destroyed that airline by leveraging the heck out of it.