United Airlines Starts Serving Personalized Ads to Passenger Seat-Back Entertainment Devices

Personalized advertisements are coming to United Airlines inflight entertainment (IFE) screens, the Chicago-based carrier announced on June 7th. 
 

Through Kinective Media by United Airlines, United will begin to use demographic information, such as hometowns, flight information, and age to create aggregated and anonymized audience segments who will receive ads that are more personalized to their backgrounds.

For example, a passenger on a United Airlines flight from its hub in Newark (EWR) to San Francisco (SFO) may receive targeted ads for a local performance in San Francisco. 
 

Kinective Media does not use data related to race, ethnicity, disability status, biometrics, or personal health to create targeted advertisements. Additionally, the program also does not use any data from those under the age of 18. All data used by Kinective media is not linked to the personally identifiable information of customers, United said. In addition, all U.S. customers have the option to opt out of personalized advertisements at any point. 
 

Rollout

United plans to implement personalized advertisements at almost every step of the travel process, from its mobile app to United Club locations to the movie selection screen onboard United's aircraft. 
 

According to the airline, United has the most downloaded airline mobile app, with over 110 million downloads and about 100 million user sessions per month. In addition, the carrier boasts a total of 100,000 In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) screens across its fleet of 952 aircraft with an average flight time of 3.5 hours. The carrier expects its large platform to allow businesses to connect with millions of new customers and will provide customers additional value as they will receive offers tailored to themselves. 

Kinective Media is already working with "dozens of global brands and agencies including Norwegian Cruise Line, Macy's, Chase United Co-Brand Credit Cards, TelevisaUnivision, IHG Hotels & Resorts and Dentsu” and proving its success and value to both businesses and customers.
 

United Next Initiative

The decision to implement Kinective Media across its media platforms comes as a part of the United Next initiative. In recent months, United has taken steps to overhaul its onboard experience, including a brand-new safety video, new onboard amenities, and one of the largest airline interior retrofit programs in the world. 
 

However, frequent flyers have criticized the decision to implement personalized advertisements citing privacy concerns. Recently, the Department of Transportation announced it would periodically review how airlines manage passengers' personal information, now including how Kinective Media by United Airlines handles passenger data.