You can now use your AirPods to watch in-flight screens on some US airlines. Here's how to tell ahead of time if your flight will have Bluetooth.

• Delta and United are the first major US airlines to roll out Bluetooth on some flight screens.
• You'll find the feature in all cabins on new United Boeing 737 MAX 8 and MAX 9 aircrafts.

When it comes to watching in-flight entertainment on airplanes, for years, we've been either carting around old wired headphones, putting up with single-use plastic ones the airline offers, or perhaps trying one of the devices that allow your AirPods to connect on flights.

But all of these bulky extra items are frankly annoying, especially when our listening devices have largely gone cordless. Yet most major airline seatback screens still require an audio jack.

On some major US airlines, that's changing with added Bluetooth capabilities now arriving to in-flight screens.

United and Delta both offer Bluetooth on select planes and cabins

United was the first airline to roll out Bluetooth for their entertainment systems, the company told Business Insider in an email. United first introduced the feature in July 2021, according to a press release.

Bluetooth connectivity for in-flight entertainment is now available on seatback screens in all cabins on United's new Boeing 737 MAX 8 and MAX 9 aircrafts, as well as some Airbus A319 models, according to The Points Guy.

As of now, 100 United planes have Bluetooth capabilities, and the airline expects to add the service to 700 more planes by 2032, according to the airline.

Delta has also started integrating wireless Bluetooth systems.

While United flights have Bluetooth throughout the cabin, Delta told BI that the feature has only been added to their A321neo fleet — and only in first class, where it is free of charge.

According to The Points Guy, Delta is using these flights to test out the product before implementing it on a wider scale.

Here's what it's like to use Bluetooth on a plane

Flight expert and senior reporter at The Points Guy, Zach Griff, recently tried out the feature on both Delta and United. He told BI that the systems were similar, intuitive, and easy to use.

In a recent reel posted to his Instagram page, Griff showed exactly how he was able to use Bluetooth on a United flight.

In the reel, he demonstrates how connecting your headphones to the seatback screen is similar to connecting to a Wi-Fi network.

"For Apple AirPods, it's as simple as holding the (setup) button on the back of the case and waiting for it to flash white lights," Griff told BI.

And the best way to pair headphones with the screen in front of you, he said, is to name your device.

"As opposed to 'AirPods' or 'Sony Headphones,' I named mine 'Zach's AirPods' so that when people are going in to make the pairing at the same time, they know which ones not to pair," he said.

Once you tap your device on the seatback screen, your headphones should pair "seamlessly," according to Griff.

Why Bluetooth isn't on more planes

Bluetooth headphones have been around for nearly 20 years, per the Guardian, but introducing this wireless feature on planes has been challenging, David Whelan, Senior Research Analyst at the airline-technology-centered Valour Consultancy, told BI.

"This is because in the consumer market, Bluetooth aims to extend the range of connections, so users can wander into other rooms without their device and not have the connection get crackly and fizzle out," he said.

But for airlines, the goal is the opposite.

"If you imagine trying to connect to your seat, you would also theoretically see every other seat in the cabin. It would be chaotic," he said. "So system manufacturers are working to shrink the range and avoid the cluster issue."

Bluetooth is also taking a while to implement because the typical lifespan of a plane for a major airline is 25 years, Whelan told BI.

He added that existing fleets would have to be retrofitted to include the perk, which is costly.

"Since the pandemic, there's been a backlog of retrofit work," which requires a plane to be on the ground, Whelan said. "Every day an aircraft is on the ground, it costs them money."

He added that airlines have to prioritize inspections and safety checks, so upgrading entertainment technology is less important.

Expect to wait another 5-10 years for in-flight Bluetooth to be widely available

Whelan estimates that Bluetooth will be available in most fleets across major airlines in North America in 5-10 years, but making it available on all flights across every airline's fleet will likely take longer because of technological challenges and retrofitting.

Regardless, Whelan said the incorporation of Bluetooth on in-flight entertainment systems is "inevitable" since wireless headphones aren't going anywhere.

"Because many major smartphone manufacturers have now dropped audio jacks from their designs, more and more people have spent a lot of money on the exact headphones that they want," he said. "They want to be able to use them, and they don't see why they can't in that environment."