Netflix Takes to the Air with Virgin America

SAN FRANCISCO—Netflix and airline Virgin America are teaming up to offer flyers a new way to kill time while traveling with complimentary in-flight Wi-Fi capable of streaming Netflix’s entire library of films and TV shows from now until March 2, 2016 with #NetflixOnBoard. This new experience was made possible by Virgin America’s recent connectivity partnership with ViaSat.

Announced earlier this summer, Virgin America’s partnership with ViaSat provides faster Wi-Fi to the airline’s 10 Airbus A320 aircraft from fall 2015 to mid-2016. The increased Wi-Fi allows travelers to watch and stream online content to their connected device when in-flight. The new ViaSat service will roll out to about one aircraft a month through June 2016, with the Wi-Fi service complimentary until March 2.

Guest will be notified by the Virgin America in-flight team when they will be able to access #NetflixOnBoard through the high-speed Wi-Fi. They can then login to their Netflix account or sign-up for a free 30-day trial via their personal devices.

Virgin America also announced that it will upgrade its Red in-flight entertainment system, which will now include the first three seasons of Netflix’s ‘House of Cards’ on the aircraft’s seatback touchscreens.

To kick-off their new partnership, Virgin America and Netflix unveiled a ‘House of Cards’ and Netflix-branded airplane, as well as a surprise appearance by ‘House of Cards’ star Michael Kelly for passenger flying from San Francisco International Airport to Washington Reagan National Airport.