How to Use Bluetooth Headphones With In-Flight Entertainment

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How to Use Bluetooth Headphones With In-Flight Entertainment

How to Use Bluetooth Headphones With In-Flight Entertainment

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Watching in-flight entertainment with your Bluetooth headphones is a lot more difficult than you’d expect, even in 2023. That’s because airlines are very slow to upgrade their hardware. But it isn’t impossible.

You’re Allowed to Use Bluetooth Headphones on Planes, but Not During Takeoff and Landing

Most airlines allow using Bluetooth headphones on planes, except for the critical stages of the flight. But this heavily depends on the airline.

Some airlines allow using Bluetooth headphones during all stages of the flight (Lufthansa, Southwest, Spirit, and Qatar). Some ask you to stow them away during takeoff and landing (American Airlines, British Airways, Delta, JetBlue, Qantas, Ryanair, Turkish Airlines, and United). Some only allow you to use them when the airplane is above 10 000 ft (Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines). And some don’t allow you to use them at all on their older airplane models which don’t offer WiFi connectivity (Air Canada and Air France).

It’s hard to remember and follow the rules for each airline. So you shouldn’t worry too much about them. Our advice is to use your Bluetooth headphones (or earbuds) on planes as usual, and only remove them during announcements or if the airline crew member asks you to.

How to Connect Your Bluetooth Headphones to Airplane In-Flight Entertainment Systems

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to connect your Bluetooth headphones to the built-in entertainment systems on all airplanes. That’s because most commonly, these entertainment systems are very old. A lot of them still use a 2-3 prong headphone plug instead of a 3.5 mm jack.

Only a few airlines have updated their built-in entertainment to support Bluetooth connectivity (Air France, American Airlines, Delta, Emirates, Lufthansa, Qatar, and United Airlines). And it’s just for their newest airplane models, which account for a small part of their flights. For other flights, you’ll have to bring wired headphones or buy them mid-flight.

But because nowadays everyone has a smartphone, laptop, or tablet, some airlines allow passengers to stream movies and TV shows from their own devices. They do this through an app or a website. But this only works on flights with built-in WiFi, and not with all airlines.

Tip: You Can Also Use a Bluetooth Adapter

In 2023, less than half of airlines offer streaming through apps and websites or Bluetooth connectivity for their entertainment systems. And they don’t even support it on all of their flights. So in reality, the chances that you’ll be able to watch in-flight entertainment through your Bluetooth headphones are about 20% or one in every five flights.

A workaround is to use a Bluetooth adapter. It plugs into the built-in entertainment system’s audio output (3.5 mm, 2 prongs, or 3 prongs), and transmits a Bluetooth signal. You can then connect to it with your headphones to listen to the entertainment systems. They aren’t expensive either, priced at around 20-40$, so they’re well worth the cost.

Which Airlines Offer Bluetooth Connectivity for Their In-Flight Entertainment Systems

Summing Up: Using Bluetooth Headphones on Planes

If you’re traveling frequently, especially on long-distance flights, good noise-canceling headphones can make a huge difference in your comfort. But to ensure that they’ll work with the entertainment systems on airplanes, you should also get a small Bluetooth adapter. The other option is to also carry a pair of small, wired earbuds. They also do a good job of blocking the noise but not as good as noise-canceling headphones.