If during the last few years you felt as if airlines entirely forgot about the economy cabin, or decided to leave it in ruin, you wouldn’t be alone. Despite it being the cabin where most passengers sit, many airlines have done everything in their power to remove amenities, legroom, entertainment and yes, even the food. Not all though.
Delta has been busy trialling a variety of passenger friendly amenities from Bellini’s on long flights to something as basic as… entertainment, and the results are in. The Atlanta based airline is going against the grain of other US airlines, adding sharp new entertainment screens while other airlines remove theirs altogether. Why stop there? The airline is adding HULU content, to give you something worth watching, and going further on long haul flights as well.
Yes, Delta was indeed the airline trialling free wifi for all recently, and have said they expect that to become a reality. Also yes, Delta is the airline which announced printed menus, personal greetings, Bellini’s and other upgrades for long haul flights.
An airline having entertainment screens shouldn’t be blog worthy news, but in today’s world – it is. Delta stands alone amongst mainline US airlines in 2019, confirming that 700 of its roughly 900 total planes feature seat-back entertainment, up from 600 just a year before. This comes at a time when United, American and even many international airlines are stripping screens out of economy, and even business class cabins.
Further bucking the trend, Delta has partnered with HULU to offer complimentary access to The Handmaids Tale and other top original shows created by the streaming studio. Per View From The Wing, the August entertainment programming on board Delta flights includes…
| Title | Genre | Episodes |
| The Handmaid’s Tale | Drama | S1 Episodes 1-3 |
| The Mindy Project | Comedy | S4 Episodes 1-6 |
| Marvel’s Runaways | Action, Sci-Fi | S1 Episodes 1-3 |
| Castle Rock | Drama, Horror | S1 Episodes 1-3 |
| Casual | Comedy | S1 Episodes 1-4 |
| Light As A Feather | Thriller | S1 Episodes 1-3 |
| The Act | Crime, Drama | S1 Episodes 1-3 |
| Shrill | Comedy | S1 Episodes 1-3 |
| Batman and Bill | Documentary | Film |
| Fyre Fraud | Documentary | Film |
| Ask Dr. Ruth | Documentary | Film |
| Minding the Gap | Documentary | Film |
| Into the Dark: New Year, New You | Horror | Film |
So why not make it happen on 900 out of 900ish planes? Some of Delta’s smaller and older jets are being retired in the next year, so it makes very little sense to spend millions on something which will only be around for months, or perhaps years. It’s great to see an airline turning record profits into real customer investment which passengers can feel. If only we could say the same elsewhere…
