United Airlines to offer free Starlink Internet on all flights

[Shawn Knight]

In brief: United Airlines has announced plans to install Starlink satellite Internet service on its entire fleet of aircraft. The speedy Wi-Fi will be complimentary, enabling true gate-to-gate connectivity for all passengers.

United said the rollout will take several years, but testing is expected to start in early 2025. Should everything go according to plan, United's first commercial flights with Starlink service will take off later next year. United operates and is planning to install Starlink on more than 1,000 jets, making it the largest carrier to commit to offering Starlink at this scale.

The airline did not lay out a target speed, but said the installation will grant customers access to connected activities like live television, streaming, gaming, social media, shopping, and more, on built-in seatback screens or on their own personal devices.

A support document for Starlink Aviation notes the service can deliver download speeds between 40 Mbps and 220 Mbps, and that all passengers can access a streaming-capable connection simultaneously.

A 220 Mbps connection may not sound all that impressive when several ground-based providers are now offering 1 Gbps fiber connections to the home, but it is far speedier than what we have encountered on flights in the past. As Joanna Stern with The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted, some commercial flights are still using dated 3G ground-to-air tech. That is sufficient for e-mail and messaging, but not much else.

Service providers like SpaceX's Starlink, however, rely on low-Earth orbit satellites to beam connectivity directly to planes at a much faster rate. In a recent test on a JSX flight equipped with Starlink, Stern was able to hit download speeds over 150 Mbps with "impressive" latency.

For now, Starlink is only available on two airlines: Hawaiian Air and JSX. United's adoption will greatly expand availability, and no doubt prompt large competitors to step their game up – whether it be through a deal with Starlink or perhaps a provider that offers a combination of LEO and GEO satellite connectivity.

Permalink to story:

United Airlines to offer free Starlink Internet on all flights

 

[The Talking Tech]

There's nothing free in life.....one way or another we will end up getting charged for it, in the form of higher airfares, intrusive ads while accessing it, or all of the above.

 

[tylerb1489]

There's nothing free in life.....one way or another we will end up getting charged for it, in the form of higher airfares, intrusive ads while accessing it, or all of the above.

I was on Hawaiian going to Hawaii and they had starlink for free, was getting 175 down and they don’t restrict access to anything! It was awesome!

 

[AlexIL]

So now people will have no excuse not to work while airborne. Soon they will invent Internet while sleeping so no excuse to wate time on that. Make more money for Elon.

 

[human7]

There's nothing free in life.....one way or another we will end up getting charged for it, in the form of higher airfares, intrusive ads while accessing it, or all of the above.

Perhaps, but not necessarily. The airline could fit the bill for it entirely if it is part of what gives it a competitive edge and thus more passengers booking it. But, in time, that edge will dull, so who knows. Even if the edge does dull, if free wifi becomes a standard to attract customers, airlines would not undo that perk because it would put them at a disadvantage, and ticket prices will remain (more or less) competitive as usual.

 

[The Talking Tech]

Perhaps, but not necessarily. The airline could fit the bill for it entirely if it is part of what gives it a competitive edge and thus more passengers booking it. But, in time, that edge will dull, so who knows. Even if the edge does dull, if free wifi becomes a standard to attract customers, airlines would not undo that perk because it would put them at a disadvantage, and ticket prices will remain (more or less) competitive as usual.

There's the possibility for them to price gauge their services to compensate for what they call "free"....and unfortunately there will be someone else to follow.

 

[human7]

There's the possibility for them to price gauge their services to compensate for what they call "free"....and unfortunately there will be someone else to follow.

There is, but I don't think it will happen. If you are comparing prices between two airlines, and one airline is cheaper, you would probably choose the cheaper option. The wifi perk may not be prominently displayed (or even important to many passengers, especially on shorter domestic routes), so United will still need to be competitive on ticket price.

 

[Win7user]

There's nothing free in life.....one way or another we will end up getting charged for it, in the form of higher airfares, intrusive ads while accessing it, or all of the above.

I was just going to say that.