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United Airlines (UAL) will offer free in-flight Wi-Fi using SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet terminals.
Passengers will be able to connect to high-speed internet aboard all of its more than 1,000 planes using the Elon Musk-owned satellite network in 2025, the airline announced Friday. Testing will begin early next year, and it expects to roll out the feature later in the year.
“Everything you can do on the ground, you’ll soon be able to do onboard a United plane at 35,000 feet, just about anywhere in the world,” United CEO Scott Kirby said in a statement. “This connectivity opens the door for an even better inflight entertainment experience, in every seatback – more content, that’s more personalized.”
The Wi-Fi will be available on customers’ personal devices, including laptops and smartphones, as well as in aircraft’s seatback screens.
Airlines across the board have begun to introduce free Wi-Fi on flights, as they recognize the importance of connectivity in both domestic and long-haul travels. Last month, Delta, one of the biggest U.S. airlines, announced that it would be rolling out free internet, powered by T-Mobile (TMUS), on its international flights. The airline said free, streaming-quality internet was already available on 700 aircraft, more than 90% of its domestic fleet.
Starlink, a subsidiary of Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX, has already been tapped to provide its internet connectivity services to a handful of smaller airlines, including Hawaiian Airlines (HA) and “hop-on jet service” JSX. It launched what it calls Starlink Aviation in October 2022 — a slate of products that offers satellite internet to aircraft. The satellite network provides internet connection to about 100 countries using the 6,300 satellites it currently has in orbit.
United, however, is Starlink’s largest airline customer by far, and will be the first carrier in the world to offer Starlink service at this scale, the company said.
Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer at SpaceX said passengers abord Starlink-connected aircraft will “have access to the world’s most advanced high-speed internet from gate to gate, and all the miles in between.”
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