United Airlines on Tuesday announced that passengers can now view select Apple TV+ shows for free through its in-flight entertainment system.
At launch, the airline is offering the first seasons of Severance, Shrinking, Ted Lasso, Slow Horses, and Silo, with The Morning Show and Bad Sisters to be added this September. Additional Apple TV+ content will be added each month.
The shows can be watched on United’s more than 130,000 seatback screens, and in the United app. United plans to eventually have 300,000 seatback screens installed across its fleet, as hundreds of new airplanes are added and existing aircraft are retrofitted.
United has made a series of investments in the seatback experience in recent years, including installing seatback screens in every seat as part of its United Next growth plan and most recently announcing a new aircraft interior that includes huge, Bluetooth-enabled, 27-inch, 4K OLED seatback screens, the largest among U.S. carriers. The introduction of Apple TV+ aligns with United’s plans to have 300,000+ screens across its fleet as it takes delivery of hundreds of new airplanes and retrofits existing aircraft.
This latest partnership benefits both United and Apple, as it provides the airline’s passengers with an additional entertainment option, while giving hit Apple TV+ shows more exposure to travelers. Currently, only the first seasons of hit shows are available, possibly spurring passengers to subscribe to Apple TV+ to continue watching the shows.
United also supports Apple’s Live Activities and Share Item Location features. United employees also use iPhones and iPads to perform their jobs.
Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion devices, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL, and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation, and Xbox gaming consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $9.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, or iPod touch can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.
