Friendly skies marketing is getting personal as United Airlines is now serving targeted ads on seat-back screens as the airline looks to cash in on customer data.
United passengers browsing movie and TV show options during the flight will already see ads during programming. That includes a 30-second commercial that now displays information United has collected about individual travelers, such as where they live and the destinations they have traveled to.
“We’ve built a unique, real-time, adtech-powered media network for travelers where brands have already connected with premium audiences at an unprecedented scale,” Richard Nunn, CEO of United’s MileagePlus, said in a statement Friday announcing the launch is announced.
“There has been a huge strategic shift within this fast-growing sector over the past five years, as advertisers and brands have come together to determine how best to connect with consumers in ways that are valuable, effective and personal,” said Nunn.
The airline has almost 100,000 screens in the seatbacks of its fleet, with a potential of 3.5 hours of attention per traveler, based on average flight time.
United said it would only use information about passengers 18 and older, and that all customers will have the opportunity to opt out of the targeted ads at any time.
The Department of Transportation announced in March an industry-wide review of the data security and privacy policies of the country’s largest airlines to determine whether they adequately protect passengers’ personal data.
“Airline passengers must have confidence that their personal information will not be inappropriately shared with third parties or mishandled by employees,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement at the time.
