Airlines continue to innovate ways to make money yet retain loyal customers — one such method is to remove seatback entertainment screens and charge passengers to stream entertainment on their personal devices.

An increasing number of airlines now offer free in-flight WiFi, especially for domestic flights, which gives passengers the opportunity to surf the web and stream media on their smartphones or tablets. This negates the need for seatback media screens, allowing the airline to invest in affordable aircraft. The screens also add weight to the aircraft, which increases fuel costs.

American Airlines, United Airlines and Alaska Airlines already began the process of removing screens from Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 planes. Remaining airlines like Delta Air Lines and JetBlue are capitalizing on the fact they still offer this service for domestic travelers (for the time being), with Delta Air Lines even developing a seat-mounted screen for some of its newer planes. These airlines rationalize that passengers want to replicate their home environment with the ability to watch TV and movies while surfing the web.