The Smart Marty Sky Dispatch
Alaska Airlines Is Betting On Seatback Screens For Only A Fraction Of Seats On Its Transcon Boeing 737 MAX 10s
The newest single-aisle joining Alaska's fleet is comes with a BYOD cabin policy.
Alaska Airlines plans to debut its first Boeing 737 MAX 10 with a split in in-flight entertainment across the cabin. The front of the aircraft will feature seatback screens in the two most expensive cabins, while the rest of the cabin will operate on a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) model.
The BYOD approach will apply to roughly 85% of the about 159 seats on the MAX 10, according to the carrier’s announcement. Passengers in the front cabins will have traditional screen-based IFE as part of their service.
The announcement highlights a distinct differentiation between the premium and non-premium sections of the cabin, rather than a uniform IFE offering throughout the aircraft. Alaska Asia did not provide additional details on the specific cabin configurations or seating counts for the two premium areas.
The information comes from a Simple Flying report describing Alaska Airlines’ IFE design choices for its anticipated MAX 10 deployment. The piece notes the planned split in entertainment delivery and the BYOD plan for the majority of seats.