United brings Spotlfy to seatback screens.Photo: United Airlines United Airlines is introducing a new inflight entertainment feature that allows passengers to access their personal Spotify accounts directly from seatback screens, becoming the first airline to offer the service.
The integration gives travelers access to Spotify's catalog of more than 100 million tracks, along with millions of podcasts, playlists, albums and videos, using their own accounts. Passengers can scan a QR code displayed on the seatback screen with their phones to securely connect their accounts.
Once logged in, travelers can access their saved music, personalized recommendations and playlists, as well as podcasts, audiobooks and video content. They can also resume listening or watching from where they left off before boarding and save new favorites to their libraries.
Passengers can optionally use their phones as remote controls to browse content, select titles and adjust playback without reaching forward to operate the seatback screen.
The service is powered by Starlink Wi-Fi and is designed to bring the personalized streaming experience passengers enjoy at home to the aircraft cabin.
"Now, thanks to Starlink, they can watch and listen to their own Spotify content right on their seatback screen and pick up their favorites right where they left off," said Andrew Nocella, United's Chief Commercial Officer.
Spotify's Vice President of Business Development, Ian Geller, described the integration as a major milestone, allowing passengers to access their personal recommendations, saved libraries and favorite content on a larger screen while flying.
The new functionality builds on United's existing partnership with Spotify. In June 2025, the airline introduced a dedicated collection of Spotify content on its seatback screens, featuring more than 450 hours of audiobooks, video podcasts and music playlists.
Since then, more than 2.3 million passengers have accessed the collection, spending a combined 1.9 million hours enjoying Spotify content during their flights.
United also offers more than 2,500 hours of premium inflight entertainment, including programming from Apple TV, HBO Max, A24 and Peacock.
The airline currently has more than 181,000 seatback screens across its fleet, covering approximately 85% of its mainline aircraft. It expects to increase that number to more than 219,000 by the end of 2027, bringing screens to nearly its entire mainline fleet.
Connectivity is another part of the airline's investment. Starlink Wi-Fi is now available on more than half of United's daily flights, allowing MileagePlus members to stream, work, shop and connect multiple devices while onboard. United expects to complete its Starlink installations by the end of 2027.
Passengers using the Spotify integration can log out manually at any point during their flight. Accounts will also be automatically logged out at the end of the journey.