/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5f28621270bae8b896f893c7/0x0.jpg "No More In-Flight Entertainment Tablets For Rent On Alaska Airlines")
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TOPLINE
Alaska Airlines has removed its in-flight entertainment tablets from all flights as a Covid-19 safety precaution, making the airline the first to rid of this hardware with the goal of mitigating coronavirus spread.
Passengers have to bring their own entertainment devices on Alaska Airlines flights.
KEY FACTS
The airline has permanently removed the tablets to “minimize contact between guests and crew,” according to its website.
Previously, Alaska Airlines had in-flight entertainment tablets available to rent for economy passengers on coast-to-coast and Hawaii flights and provided them for free to top-tier frequent flyers and first-class customers.
The airline offers passengers free movies and TV programming on their own devices.
The elimination of tablets may be more than a coronavirus safety measure — dropping them will free up storage space in the galley and eliminate costs, notes Points Guy.
American Airlines appears to continue to offer premium cabin passengers Samsung tablets on select flights.
Big Number
$32 billion. That’s how much Congress gave airlines in grants in March under the CARES Act upon the condition that the airlines neither slash salaries nor lay off employees through September 30.
Key Background
The airline industry has been rocked by Covid-19, with flight reductions of as much as 90% this spring. U.S. airlines are offering buyouts and encouraging workers to take unpaid or partially unpaid leave, but tens of thousands of layoffs are expected after the restrictions attached to the CARES Act aid expire.
What To Watch For
Since June, airline unions have lobbied for additional funds from Congress in the next financial stimulus package to maintain employment levels through March of next year, per CNBC.
Further Reading
Alaska Airlines quietly cuts inflight entertainment tablets (The Points Guy)
Spirit Airlines says 20% to 30% of workers at risk of furloughs (Fox Business)
Airlines, unions push for billions in additional federal aid to save airline jobs as layoffs loom (CNBC)
Nearly 17,000 Southwest employees sign up for buyouts, voluntary leave as furlough threat looms (CNBC)
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