From Seatback Screens to Open Platforms: Exploring The Next Evolution of In-Flight Entertainment (IFE)
Long gone are the days when travelers boarded planes with iPods loaded with their favorite music to pass the time. Today, nearly all airlines offer some form of in-flight entertainment (IFE), whether through seatback screens or personal devices, giving passengers easy access to movies, music, games and more. But in a connected world shaped by AI, we can start to imagine new possibilities that extend far beyond traditional entertainment. An Open Software Platform (OSP) may hold the key to exploring these opportunities for both passengers and airlines.
At Acubed, we’re asking: how could the industry move beyond traditional entertainment and create experiences that feel more personal, seamless and valuable? One path forward could be pairing a flexible OSP with AI-powered personalization. Imagine an AI assistant that links services across the entire flight experience, connecting devices and airlines to provide tailored, dynamic interactions that tap into each passenger’s preferences. This type of exploration suggests ways IFE could evolve from a content hub into something more, an intelligent layer that enhances comfort for travelers while opening up new avenues of efficiency and revenue for airlines.
To take a step back, an OSP serves as the digital foundation for IFEs and onboard services, enabling multiple vendors to connect and work together. While the IFE is the passenger-facing experience–allowing travelers to browse food and beverage menus, play games or watch movies– the OSP sits behind the scenes, ensuring flexibility and interoperability while creating a safe and secure separation between the IFE apps and the certified cabin systems. That separation could be the key to quickly bring and connect new apps and services to enrich the IFE without the need for certification.
Today’s IFE offering typically fall into three categories:
- In-seat IFE: fixed-screen (often in the seatback) that lets each passenger access server-stored content directly on the aircraft.
- Wireless IFEs: the most common, allowing passengers to stream locally stored content on their own device.
- IFEC: the most advanced, combining local entertainment with full internet connectivity email, live TV and more.
These systems are a major leap forward from the first silent video in 1925, when IFE meant silent films shown to the entire cabin. For passengers, they make flying more enjoyable and even productive. For airlines, they create opportunities to streamline service and generate revenue through in-flight purchases of digital or physical products, available in the cabin or on the ground after landing. Yet, today’s systems can be cumbersome: contract management is complex, content updates are inflexible and the marketplace is fragmented with no common standard. Most carriers lack the technical resources to manage integrations in-house, leaving them dependent on multiple external providers. Without a unified, plug-and-play model, airlines are forced to piece together disparate services.
So what might the future look like if these barriers were lowered? Perhaps a one-stop shop that simplifies contracts, offers plug-and-play services and provides a marketplace where product managers can test and configure content in a single day before deciding what to roll out. Layer in AI, and that vision expands: personalized experiences, faster adoption of innovations, new digital revenue streams and a more seamless connection between airline operations and passenger journeys.
For now, these remain explorations, opportunities we’re investigating to improve how airlines deliver value in the cabin.
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