On an average day, more than 8 million airline passengers take to the skies. With our increased access to technology, a convenient place to plug in your laptop or phone has become an expectation of flight passengers. So how do you know which airlines have airplane power outlets? Well for starters, check out this article to find out which popular U.S airlines have airplane power outlets.
Which Airlines Have What and Where
Virgin America is more of a boutique operator than Delta or United. However, this company is known for upscale aircraft interior products. On most Virgin planes, that includes two USB outlets between each seat. Although this means you may have to share with your seat partner, which is less than ideal if you’re traveling alone, they do have plentiful airplane power outlets.
Delta is routinely rated as a top U.S. airline, and many of their larger planes are equipped with modern in flight entertainment systems. As with most airlines, you can only find airplane power outlets in First Class or on select aircrafts. There are inseat USB systems available for all flight passengers on specific aircrafts, especially those that feature Delta on Demand. For Delta’s international flights, you’ll find 110 volt power outlets. That may not be the ideal airplane power outlet for some laptops, however, they are available in all of the BusinessElite seats as well as in the first 10 rows of Economy on select aircraft.
United Airlines, one of Delta’s biggest competitors and another major U.S. airline, also has power outlets available on select flights. They had 110V power outlets in premium seating only until airplane power outlets arrived in United Economy in 2013. For United’s international fliers, you will again find the inseat power supply of 110V power outlets on some of their aircrafts, though not all.
American Airlines is another popular option, and one that has power outlets on most of their planes, though some are DC outlets which might require an airplane plug adapter (DC outlets are what you’ll find in your car). First and Business Class seats have outlets for everyone; however, the main cabin only has shared outlets between seats in special rows of the plane. What this means for passengers is that if you want/need an outlet, your ticket probably will cost more. There are exceptions in a few select aircrafts that have shared power in every row, as well as USB’s for every seat.
Make sure you do your research to make sure you have access to airplane power outlets on your aircraft. Happy travels!