Airlines Take Mobile Services Beyond Check-In
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1009335

Airlines are increasingly using mobile check-in services, which is expected to free up more time at the airport for customer service interactions. The article points out that airlines are looking to implement additional services by 2015, such as bag mishandling services and onboard entertainment. Allowing customers to access onboard entertainment from their mobile devices would allow for more targeted messaging to customers. Importantly, this could potentially lower the cost for airlines to upgrade/repurpose entertainment systems periodically as onboard technology evolves over time.

I think this process is quite interesting. Personally, having access to my mobile device during a flight would be great. If I had the option to pick and choose onboard entertainment from my smartphone, that may make me more inclined to purchase certain services. I think the targeted messaging and offers (due to use of my personal phone) would be extremely valuable from the airlines' perspective. It's pretty amazing what insights the airlines were able to get just from starting to offer a mobile check-in process. There are plenty of opportunities to take advantage of--it will be interesting to see what services are offered first and which airlines are most effective at using the additional digital options in flight (and consequently how they use the data thereafter).