United Airlines is accelerating the free and rapid rollout of Starlink. Here’s a look at which aircraft will get this first
- United Airlines is accelerating the rollout of Starlink Wi-Fi for all its aircraft.
- The entire regional fleet of aircraft should have free, much faster Starlink Wi-Fi by the end of 2025.
- The airline teased that it will “enable the living room in the sky experience.”
United Airlines has already made a major improvement to inflight Wi-Fi starting in 2025, offering faster, more reliable, free service to all Mileage Plus members. But to start the year, timed to a few days before the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show kicks off, the airline is accelerating its promised rollout.
In September 2024, United announced an agreement with SpaceX to bring Starlink to its entire fleet of aircraft starting in 2025 to power enhanced Wi-Fi powered by satellites in low Earth orbit. However, United now plans to test the service afterwards. month and expects the first commercial flight on an Embraer E-175 to take place in the spring, or sometime between March and June.
Additionally, United expects its entire regional fleet – consisting of two cabins – to have Starlink installed by the end of 2025, and at least one mainline aircraft to offer faster internet by the same timeframe. The end goal is of course still Starlink on United’s entire fleet, which consists of more than 1,000 aircraft.
United’s current in-flight Wi-Fi solution varies by plane, has variable quality and is not free. That all changes with this collaboration with Starlink. Speaking to Ny Breaking, Grant Milstead United’s Vice President of Digital Technology said Starlink “enables a kind of living room in the sky experience.”
“Whether you want to be highly productive and have low latency connectivity for your documents at work, whether this means you want to connect to your ring doorbell and view the package you just got, or it means you want to play a game, things like that, as if we never had those options before,” Milstead explains.
That’s a significant improvement and would likely give United an edge over the competition. In the current Wi-Fi state, I’ve had times where I’ve been able to write a story, edit photos, and easily upload and build them on our content management system, and there are times where it can be hard for an iMessage to get through .
It also doesn’t just kick in when you’re above 3,000 metres, the product will be gate to gate here – meaning you’ll have reliable connectivity when you’re on the ground after actually connecting to the network. You’ll need to be a Mileage Plus member – a completely free program to join – and there will be a new interface.
Milstead described it as a “brand new in-flight experience for customers. So the way you actually connect to Wi-Fi will be brand new, really updated.” And you can log in or sign up with your Mileage Plus account before or during the flight. Further, however, Grant noted that United is rolling out seat-back screens to all of its mainline aircraft – including regional jets – and explained: “You can expect these to be part of this experience as well. A connected backrest will be a key aspect of how we enable that ‘living room in the sky’ experience,” but stopped short of fully announcing the future in advance.
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It certainly indicates that United has a lot more plans than just faster, more stable Wi-Fi in the air. And that’s true, as United has focused on technology and improving the customer experience. As far as airlines go, United was the first to adopt iPhone Dynamic Island and Live Activity support, plus AirTag integration in case your luggage gets lost. Milstead also called up the “Terminal Guide” in the United app, which can help you from the moment you approach the airport to boarding.
Rest assured, United chose Starlink for a reason: “We have extensively vetted their capabilities and they have the largest network.” He said Starlink has the best capabilities, the most satellites and the most coverage, allowing Starlink to grow with United. Ultimately, it will be incorporated into the airline’s entire fleet.
As for why its regional jets are first, it has to do with need, as Milstead explained: “Regional jets use air-to-ground, and the air-to-ground connectivity is disappearing.” It’s not a small bunch of planes either. At more than 200, this will be the largest Starlink installation in any airline to date.
United is clearly working to complete the installations on a fast schedule, and Milstead said they will begin testing the installation process in February, sharing, “We’ll get a very good understanding of what that looks like. But I think you can see it in the fact that we are already ahead of schedule.” And United will learn the lessons from the installation, which will already be simpler and less time-consuming than previous Wi-Fi installations.
It’s going to be an exciting time and I’ll definitely be daydreaming about Starlink on my upcoming United Flights. “We are really focused on innovation in this experience. So I think people should not only be excited about the high-speed, low-latency connectivity, but also be excited about the whole ecosystem that we can create on board,” Milstead said.