“Some airlines are looking at this from the standpoint of cost savings by removing the hardware,” he said. “They reduce the weight of the aircraft, and they reduce the expense associated with maintaining that equipment.”

American and United Airlines are phasing out screens on new short-haul aircraft in favor of content offerings that passengers can stream from their personal devices.

The decision on whether to update the screens, Mr. McKone said, is mainly economic. “I think you’re going to continue to see increasing economic pressure not to replace I.F.E., particularly on the shorter-haul fleets,” he said. Mr. McKone predicted that more domestic flights in the future would offer content streaming on a bring-your-own-device model.

Some travelers are happy to say “good riddance” to the seatback screens. Lindsay Renfro, an associate professor at the Mayo Clinic, is among them. She travels about once a month for her job developing clinical trials for cancer research and views seatback entertainment as something of a redundant amenity.

“There are screens everywhere else in life,” she said. “I know that when I am flying and I look around me, people are by and large using personal devices, even when a seatback screen is available to them.”