United Airlines is adding free Starlink Wi-Fi to all its planes

United Airlines' in-flight Wi-Fi is getting a major upgrade on all its jets thanks to SpaceX's Starlink satellites. After teasing “something big” for the skies, United says it will begin testing Starlink's fast Wi-Fi service in early 2025, with the first passenger flights expected late next year.

United is installing Starlink Wi-Fi on all of its planes, more than 1,000 planes, over the next few years, and the service will be free to passengers. “What you can do on the ground, you'll soon be able to do on a United plane at 35,000 feet, anywhere in the world,” said United CEO Scott Kirby.

One mile at a time reports that United currently has four different Wi-Fi providers, with regional jets using Intelsat (formerly Gogo) and most wide-body jets using Panasonic Wi-Fi. United uses Viasat Wi-Fi on most of its 737 Max aircraft, some A319s, and A321neos. Viasat is the best in terms of speed and is usually available on American and Delta flights.

The announcement is a major one for travelers, as onboard Wi-Fi is often unreliable and slow. The Wall Street Journal Recently demonstrated how Starlink and others are going to change that, achieving speeds of over 100Mbps on a shared Starlink connection with latency of less than 100ms on a real-world flight. This allows for uninterrupted Netflix streams and even the ability to join video conference calls. Starlink says it can deliver speeds of up to 220Mbps per plane.

High-speed Starlink service is currently only available on JSX or Hawaiian Airlines in the US, so United's expansion will no doubt put pressure on rivals to improve their in-flight Wi-Fi. Several international airlines have also announced plans to install Starlink Wi-Fi in recent months, with WestJet planning to use Starlink on some of its aircraft starting in December and Qatar Airways planning to introduce free Starlink Wi-Fi on three of its Boeing 777s. -300 aircraft by the end of this year. Air New Zealand aims to introduce Starlink to its domestic fleet in 2025.

News of United's Starlink deal comes the same week that Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenwarcel said she wants to see more competition with SpaceX's Starlink. Elon Musk's Starlink has launched nearly 7,000 satellites into orbit since 2018, with SpaceX controlling “about two-thirds of the satellites in space right now,” according to Rosenworcel. “Our economy does not benefit from monopoly. So we need to invite many more space actors, many more organizations that can develop constellations and innovations in space.

T-Mobile announced this week that it recently successfully tested an emergency alert via a Starlink satellite. In 2022, T-Mobile and SpaceX announced a partnership that would allow people to text, call and use their T-Mobile phones via Starlink satellites. AT&T and Verizon are also developing similar satellite-to-smartphone services, with Apple and Google offering satellite services for their latest smartphones.