Thales celebrates American Airlines 1st 787-9 aircraft flying with AVANT Up Inflight Entertainment System

On 5 June 2025, American Airlines premium Boeing 787-9 aircraft, equipped with Thales' AVANT Up inflight entertainment  system, made its debut on its inaugural flight from Chicago O’Hare to Los Angeles followed by its inaugural Flagship Suite service from Chicago O’Hare to London Heathrow. American Airlines, the first oneworld alliance member to introduce this IFE system, expects a total of 30 of these premium aircraft to join its fleet by 2029.

Heather Garboden, American’s Chief Customer Officer commented: “Every aspect of our new 787-9 is designed to feel premium in nature. Everything our customers see on board was designed with customers in mind — from the design details to Bluetooth connectivity and state-of-the-art entertainment.”

Niels Steenstrup, Chief Eexecutive Officer, Thales InFlyt Experience stated: “For nearly 15 years, American Airlines has trusted Thales as their inflight entertainment provider. This enduring partnership reflects our shared commitment to create extraordinary inflight experiences, and we are thrilled to power American’s premium travel with the cutting-edge AVANT Up.” 

Premium onboard passenger experience

American has introduced a premium passenger experience for customers travelling on their new aircraft equipped with Thales’ AVANT Up IFE. This is the first premium Boeing 787-9 featuring spectacular 4K QLED HDR displays that deliver a cinematic experience at every seat. Navigating American’s vast catalogue of entertainment options is easy with Thales’ ultra-responsive touchscreens. Thales’ seatback displays feature a Bluetooth connection for passengers to pair a device. The system is equipped with Thales’ power management solution with USB-C and USB-A fast charging that supports up to 60W of in-screen charging capacity, ensuring passengers’ devices arrive at their destination fully charged.

Unique passenger experiences at every seat

AVANT Up provides a wide range of digital services and applications, enabling American to provide a premium entertainment experience to all customers flying on the new 787-9. Passengers can enjoy more, such as an interactive Watch Party, a Picture-in-Picture viewing experience, and action-packed console gaming.

Accessible travel for all

American is the first carrier in the Americas to fly with Thales’ award-winning user interface for passengers with vision assistance needs. The user interface supports audio-cue navigation assistance, voice metadata feedback, touch and swipe gesture controls, and a large selection of audio-descriptive content to create a more inclusive and accessible travel experience for all.