Plus, there’s potential for happier customers who are watching first run movies instead of no movies or content they’ve already caught before.
For example, if I were choosing a flight the Friday Avengers: Endgame opens and I saw one provider had it available on my flight, I’d likely choose them provided my flight was as long as its runtime.
Movies may not be the deciding factor in someone’s airline choice, although it’s more than fair to say the right movie could potentially factor into choosing an airline.
For airlines, the pros behind providing first run films on flights is obvious.