How Do Airlines Choose Which Movies To Play Onboard?

For some travelers, watching a movie is an essential part of flying. Whether because it calms their nerves, helps them catch up on a blockbuster they missed in theaters, or both, getting lost in whatever’s playing on the seatback is intrinsic to the in-flight experience. But have you ever wondered why the newest Marvel movie is available but the rom-com you meant to see earlier this year is not? Or why the TV options so rarely consist of an entire season, or at least consecutive episodes rather than a random assortment? You’re far from alone. Take a look at how airlines decide which movies and TV shows to play onboard. 

What Airlines Consider

The answer is both simpler and more complex than you might expect. Most airlines devote high-level positions to securing and curating in-flight entertainment, such as the Managing Director – In-Flight Entertainment at Delta Air Lines, who have myriad behind-the-scenes factors to consider. The first and most important is their audience, which isn’t unlike that of a typical multiplex insofar as it represents a cross-section of the entire country. As such, there needs to be a little bit of everything for everybody: action flicks and broad comedies for passengers who want something big and distracting, as well as low-key indies for travelers who are able to give a movie their full attention, even when it’s interrupted by occasional announcements from the pilot and cabin crew.

The team at JetBlue Airways, for instance, employs a content-strategy specialist whose duties include analyzing “trending, popular film and television content each month,” according to an interview with Business Insider, and curating their selections accordingly. This often entails licensing agreements with specific movie studios or streaming services. Those deals don’t last forever, and different movies and TV shows are available in-flight for different amounts of time — usually six months to a year for Delta, for example, and four to 10 months on JetBlue, according to the Business Insider report.

What the Data Says

Airlines also release viewership data on occasion, which is how we know that John Wick: Chapter 4 and Top Gun: Maverick were the most popular titles across all airlines in 2023, according to a Washington Post report. Those two blockbusters were followed by Ticket to Paradise, Barbie, A Man Called Otto, Fast X, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Avatar: The Way of Water, Minions: The Rise of Gru, Jurassic World Dominion, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. In other words, the movies that tend to perform best at 30,000 feet are the same ones that do well at the box office.

Sometimes regional differences come into play, which may help explain why Jurassic World Dominion performs so well on Hawaiian Airlines, for example. Much of the series was filmed in Hawaii, and some travelers making their way to the islands understandably want to hear the John Williams theme song before making their final descent.

What About TV?

The television data is similar to that for film. Other than The Last of Us, one of last year’s buzziest and most well-received shows, viewers mostly went for familiar comedies such as Friends, Schitt’s Creek, and perennial favorite The Office, which was the most-watched program on four different airlines. In economy class, as on the couch at home, sometimes you just want to relax with a comfort show.

There are two genres you probably won’t see at cruising altitude, however: horror and disaster, especially if a plane crash is involved. This seems fairly self-explanatory. Flying is stressful enough without the person next to you screaming due to a jump scare, and even sillier fare like Snakes on a Plane isn’t a good idea to play on an actual plane.