Airlines are investing a lot of money in inflight connectivity nowadays, with Starlink Wi-Fi being the most popular new service. Along those lines, Southwest Airlines has just made an exciting announcement, which passengers will no doubt be happy about.
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Southwest rapidly installing Starlink Wi-Fi fleetwide
Southwest Airlines is partnering with SpaceX, to introduce Starlink Wi-Fi throughout its fleet of Boeing 737s.
The airline expects pretty fast rollout — the first Starlink-equipped plane should be in service this summer, and the system will be available on more than 300 aircraft by the end of 2026. Presumably most planes will have the service by the end of 2027. For what it’s worth, Southwest has a fleet of over 800 737s, with another 500+ on order.
Starlink is known for its high-speed, low-latency broadband internet, and the service is offered gate to gate. Southwest highlights how Starlink Wi-Fi allows for live streaming, productivity similar to on the ground (with high upload and download speeds), gaming, e-commerce, support for multiple devices, and more.
Starlink is becoming increasingly popular on airlines. So far we’ve seen carriers like airBaltic, Air France, Air New Zealand, British Airways, Emirates, Gulf Air, Hawaiian Airlines, Iberia, Korean Air, Lufthansa Group, Qatar Airways, SAS, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and WestJet, all announce plans to install the service.
Here’s how Southwest Airlines’ Chief Customer & Brand Officer, Tony Roach, describes this development:
“Free WiFi has been a huge hit with our Rapid Rewards Members, and we know our Customers expect seamless connectivity across all their devices when they travel. Starlink delivers that at-home experience in the air, giving Customers the ability to stream their favorite shows from any platform, watch live sports, download music, play games, work, and connect with loved ones from takeoff to landing.”
This is a very exciting development for Southwest
As of October 2025, Southwest Airlines introduced free Wi-Fi for all Rapid Rewards members, basically matching the policies of JetBlue, Delta, and now American. The catch is that Southwest’s current Wi-Fi setup is pretty underwhelming, with many planes having very outdated systems. While the airline has been installing Viasat in recent times, that’s only available on a minority of the fleet.
So to see Southwest moving to Starlink is a fantastic passenger experience improvement, as this will be way faster than what’s otherwise available on the airline.
Obviously a ton has changed about Southwest in recent times, as the airline has completely transformed its business model. From ditching open seating, to adding basic economy fares, to charging for checked bags, to introducing extra legroom economy, the airline is a lot more like the competition nowadays.
This is no doubt a positive passenger experience move, as travelers appreciate inflight connectivity, and it’s tough to beat fast and free connectivity. While United and Alaska have committed to Starlink, it’s interesting how American and Delta are holding out, as it seems like they’re going to be at a pretty big competitive disadvantage a couple of years down the road, if they don’t make a move soon.
Bottom line
Southwest Airlines plans to introduce free Starlink Wi-Fi, with the first plane having the service as of mid-2026, and 300+ planes being equipped with Starlink by the end of the year. You can’t beat Starlink for inflight connectivity, so this is great for Southwest passengers, especially given the carrier’s current lackluster Wi-Fi situation.
What do you make of Southwest Airlines introducing free Starlink Wi-Fi?
while you two argue about logging in (everyone that regularly comments should register on this site and sign in every time), WN's decision to add Starlink to its non-Viasat equipped planes confirms that:
-they recognize the value of high speed WiFi and of offering it free
- Starlink has advantages including faster speed and installation
but
- other systems including Viasat deliver a good enough product that it makes no sense...
while you two argue about logging in (everyone that regularly comments should register on this site and sign in every time), WN's decision to add Starlink to its non-Viasat equipped planes confirms that:
-they recognize the value of high speed WiFi and of offering it free
- Starlink has advantages including faster speed and installation
but
- other systems including Viasat deliver a good enough product that it makes no sense to rip out what WN already has on its MAX8s and, most importantly
- high speed WiFi that is actually in service is better than the promise of Starlink that will be operational across an entire fleet in 2 years
- Viasat is improving its product and other systems including from Amazon could potentially displace Starlink as even the speed leader. Airlines that started with Viasat did it when that was the best option. There is and never will be the assurance that even technology system will remain the best.
WN's move to add Starlink to its Viasat line-up moves them to #3 out of the big 4 in the speed of high speed Wifi.
Well done WN
This is such a selective read of the situation that it borders on spin.
First, WN adding Starlink is not some neutral “nice to have” upgrade. It is a clear admission that Viasat is not competitive enough going forward. If Viasat were truly delivering a product that was strong, future proof, and competitive, there would be zero reason to split the fleet. Airlines do not voluntarily introduce operational complexity for fun.
Second, saying “it makes...
This is such a selective read of the situation that it borders on spin.
First, WN adding Starlink is not some neutral “nice to have” upgrade. It is a clear admission that Viasat is not competitive enough going forward. If Viasat were truly delivering a product that was strong, future proof, and competitive, there would be zero reason to split the fleet. Airlines do not voluntarily introduce operational complexity for fun.
Second, saying “it makes no sense to rip out what WN already has” is just a cost deflection argument. Of course they are not ripping it out immediately. That does not mean Viasat is equal. It means ripping hardware out is expensive. There is a massive difference between “good enough for now” and “strategically competitive.”
Third, the idea that “high speed WiFi actually in service is better than the promise” ignores reality. Starlink is not a promise. It is already flying and already outperforming legacy GEO systems in speed, latency, and consistency. The two year rollout timeline is an installation schedule, not a science experiment. Pretending it is speculative tech is disingenous.
Fourth, the argument that “Viasat is improving” is weak. Every provider claims improvement. The market does not reward incremental upgrades when a fundamentally different architecture is outperforming you. LEO networks change the latency equation entirely. You cannot software update your way out of orbital physics.
Fifth, invoking Amazon as some hypothetical speed leader is pure whataboutism. “Could potentially displace” is not a strategy. Airlines make decisions based on what works now and what scales. Starlink is scaling rapidly. Kuiper is still largely theoretical in aviation terms.
And the ranking comment is odd. Moving to number three among four is not some triumph. It is an acknowledgment that WN had fallen behind and needed to respond. That is not “well done.” That is catching up.
The broader reality is simple. If Viasat were truly competitive long term, WN would standardize on it. They are not. That alone tells you the trajectory.
Trying to frame this as validation of Viasat feels like reputational damage control rather than objective analysis. The market is shifting. The tech stack is shifting. And WN’s move reflects that, even if some people are reluctant to admit it.
all of that blabbering and you miss the point that Starlink's biggest advantage is that it can be quickly deployed.
WN is challenging UA's supposed advantage that UA can quickly roll out Starlink by combining WN's Viasat and new Starlink systems to roll out high speed WiFi much faster than UA is doing.
Nobody has ever doubted that Starlink isn't a great product but the sooner you and the UA nut jobs admit that how...
all of that blabbering and you miss the point that Starlink's biggest advantage is that it can be quickly deployed.
WN is challenging UA's supposed advantage that UA can quickly roll out Starlink by combining WN's Viasat and new Starlink systems to roll out high speed WiFi much faster than UA is doing.
Nobody has ever doubted that Starlink isn't a great product but the sooner you and the UA nut jobs admit that how great Starlink is doesn't matter if it doesn't exist on an aircraft; UA has over 1000 mainline aircraft that do not have Starlink RIGHT NOW at the very same time that DL has over 1000 and AA has that many as well - with fewer mainline - combined RJs and mainline aircraft that do have free high speed WiFi and in DL's case has had it for most of the aircraft for years.
UA is last among US airlines in rolling high speed WiFi and the sooner you and the rest of the UA ilk quit arguing about how great Starlink is and admit that UA is genuinely last, the sooner we can move onto another topic.
Every. Airline. Should. Provide. Free. WiFi. To. Passengers. In. 2026.
(Especially if they're too cheap to offer actual seatback IFE.)
If Starlink can get that done for them, fine; it someone else can; great.
As 1990Bot does not take its own advice by logging in, etc, therefore, why should anyone ever believe that the Bot has posted?
Do either of you losers ever stop talking?! Good lord!
Lepe,
Attention whores...especially 1990.
He...has...to...be...first...to...post...and then reply to everyone.
just a correction, but I believe WN is going to only put Starlink on the planes that do not have Viasat WiFi and keep Viasat on those aircraft.
WN has realized like B6 and then DL that WiFi is a huge positive for airline customers; B6 led the industry, DL took it global and nationwide, and AA joined both and supplanted B6 as the 2nd largest WiFi provider with the flip of a switch last...
just a correction, but I believe WN is going to only put Starlink on the planes that do not have Viasat WiFi and keep Viasat on those aircraft.
WN has realized like B6 and then DL that WiFi is a huge positive for airline customers; B6 led the industry, DL took it global and nationwide, and AA joined both and supplanted B6 as the 2nd largest WiFi provider with the flip of a switch last month.
Given that WN has the most network overlap with UA, this is really bad news for UA which has blabbed incessantly about Starlink but has about a dozen mainline aircraft with it. Using a relative of UA's made-up statistic about seat cancellation rate, UA has by far the lowest number of seats of the big 4 plus B6 with high speed free WiFi.
no one else took out SuperBowl ads and yet while UA was blabbing about how great Starlink is, WN was signing a contract to add it to WN's fleet, pretty well obliterating UA's argument about having it exclusively among the big 4.
Here is to WN beating UA with WiFi installation and advertising not just in DEN and Houston but across WN's network
Yes, B6, DL, and recently AA are 'getting' this. WN apparently is, too. UA, AS, and the rest need to catch up, fast. While some may have WiFi, it ain't free. Used Starlink on QR over the Atlantic Ocean recently, and it was 250mbps. Friends, that's nuts. If they can do that, everyone can; they're choosing not to, and consumers should know who cares and who doesn't by now.
As 1990Bot does not take its own advice by logging in, etc, therefore, why should anyone ever believe that the Bot has posted?
Tim, the wifi offered by Delta is woefully inferior to Starlink. While it works pretty well domestically and to Europe, just about every other region is unsatisfactory as a personal user. Flying to Asia is rough once you're past Alaska/Hawaii, and depending where you're flying to South America you'll be out of coverage range as well for some time of the flight although it's pretty good. I believe to Africa coverage is also pretty good...
Tim, the wifi offered by Delta is woefully inferior to Starlink. While it works pretty well domestically and to Europe, just about every other region is unsatisfactory as a personal user. Flying to Asia is rough once you're past Alaska/Hawaii, and depending where you're flying to South America you'll be out of coverage range as well for some time of the flight although it's pretty good. I believe to Africa coverage is also pretty good but haven't flown that. I don't mind their current wifi provider but if they could just extend the coverage area that would be great.
nobody doubts that Starlink is a better product but it doesn't matter how great Starlink is if it doesn't exist.
You and the other UA nut jobs want us to believe to that the promise of Starlink creates a better WiFi product than Viasat which does exist and is working on thousands of other aircraft.
Viasat is improving its product with two new satellites this year.
Get back w/ us in 2 years and...
nobody doubts that Starlink is a better product but it doesn't matter how great Starlink is if it doesn't exist.
You and the other UA nut jobs want us to believe to that the promise of Starlink creates a better WiFi product than Viasat which does exist and is working on thousands of other aircraft.
Viasat is improving its product with two new satellites this year.
Get back w/ us in 2 years and compare what actually is working on AA, B6, DL and WN with what UA offers.
and, more significantly, let us know if better WiFi, even if Starlink ultimately proves to be for UA, turns out to be a purchase driver compared to other airlines - and I strongly suspect it will not be.
UA and its fan base have a long history of bragging about things that they can't turn into better overall customer service or financial metrics and fleetwide Starlink will be no different.
UA talks a very big talk but doesn't deliver the totality on product and finances.