American Airlines to offer Samsung Galaxy Tab on Qantas LAX connection flights

While British Airways is trialling iPads in its new First Class, and Jetstar will be offering them for rent, Qantas' oneworld alliance partner American Airlines is spruiking Android competitor Samsung Galaxy Tab as its handheld offering. 

American will offer the tablets "beginning later this year" in "premium cabins onboard transcontinental flights", which means business and first class on its "flagship service" 767 flights from Los Angeles LAX to New York JFK and Miami, plus San Francisco SFO to JFK. 

Galaxy Tabs will also be onboard LAX-Boston flights on Boeing 757s, and on European and South American 767-300 flights.

American Airlines hasn't been entirely forthcoming with further details beyond saying that USB accessories including joysticks and gamepads will be included, and the tablet will be the 10.1 version running Android Honeycomb.

But the airline does invite you to "sit back, relax, and let the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 take you to the movies or catch up on your favorite shows." Even if there's nothing more than a bunch of TV shows and movies loaded onto the tablet, that's a vast improvement over the current US domestic offering.

Better entertainment is good news for Australians flying Qantas across the Pacific and connecting on to New York, Boston or Miami. 

You've got the option of connecting onto American's US flights using Qantas' Sydney-Dallas/Fort Worth service on older Boeing 747s with angled lie-flat Skybeds in business, or on the Red Roo's Airbus A380 flagships (with fully flat beds in business) through LAX from Sydney and Melbourne.

With better entertainment options available to NY, Boston and Miami, that's another factor in your decision about whether to fly on the A380 via LAX rather or the 747 via Dallas.

That's especially true if American follows through on its promise to have power points available on all its flights by the end of the year.

John Walton

Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.