United Airlines' Amazing Free Starlink Wi-Fi Rollout: 1,000 Planes By End Of 2026 - United

United Airlines' Amazing Free Starlink Wi-Fi Rollout: 1,000 Planes By End Of 2026

Ben Schlappig — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 23:48:37 +0000

United Airlines is making incredible progress introducing free Starlink Wi-Fi for MileagePlus members throughout its fleet. The airline has just shared an update regarding the rollout of this service, and the expectation is that 1,000 planes will have the service by the end of the year. To say that United is leaving American and Delta…

Continue reading: United Airlines’ Amazing Free Starlink Wi-Fi Rollout: 1,000 Planes By End Of 2026

Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.

rebel — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 00:06:49 +0000

A very apt analogy as Viasat is quite unappetizing. Unreliable, glitchy, massive service holes and relatively slow.

Sarah M. — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 21:43:14 +0000

@Lea More projection.

Pilot Paul — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 21:39:42 +0000

TD gotta' keep throwing in the "Free" qualifier, as in "yeah, but Delta has had FREE WiFi for years..." when comparing services. Okay. Simple analogy on why being "free" isn't necessarily better: La Quinta has a free breakfast buffet, too. Because they don't charge me (up front) for it doesn't make it better than the breakfast I paid for at the Real Intercontinental. Also, at La Quinta, I have to compete with everyone crowded in the room for food and coffee, as items can run out. At the Real, no competition - I can get exactly what I want, when I want it, and how much of it, too. Finally, I'm traveling for business 95% of the time - so I'm getting expenses reimbursed. I'm far more interested in my breakfast being fast and reliably fresh and hot. Paying for that, at the Real, that's exactly what I get. At La Quinta "for free!" - sometimes I get that, sometimes I don't. See why "Free!" is less of a big deal, and can even be a bad thing? To the low-yield, bargain-hunting, leisure-fare traveler, maybe it matters. But to the high-yield business traveler - no. Don't care. I only care that my Wifi connects, STAYS CONNECTED, and is fast enough that I'm never waiting for it. And even though both Starlink (on Southwest and United and Alaska) and LEO (on Delta) are going to be "free", that's only IF you are a loyalty member. So it's not really "free" on anyone. You're paying for it by using your tracking history as the currency, and it's being used by all the airlines to drive loyalty.

Lea Lane — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 18:32:14 +0000

"I'm not sure what psychological defect you suffer from" Hi Tim, remember when you said this? "how pathetic that someone devotes their entire online identity to denigrating someone. Beyond pathetic." I guess you absolve yourself from your own behavior.

Eduardo_br — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 18:09:37 +0000

I don’t think that’s the case. I think that his condition is related to his frustations in life. He has a pathological case of jealousy towards Ben and JonNYC. It seems that due to his frustrations, he somehow created this parallel reality in which DL’s success is linked to him. If UA was the most profitable between the big 3, it’d be related to UA. It’s sad, because it must be hell to live like this. But as I’ve insisted with him, there is treatment out there for this condition.

rebel — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:49:31 +0000

Your binary inability to understand simple percentages much less trend analysis is comical for anyone much less a self-professed 'analyst'. Serious question: Have you been diagnosed as being on the spectrum? That is the only explanation I can come up with for your bizarre illogic.

Tim Dunn — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:42:45 +0000

feel free to comment to the article that Ben just posted regarding the pace at which WN is adding WiFI. It is pathological that so many UA fans seem to think that UA will have an advantage even among the number of Starlink equipped aircraft. But even more so, there are thousands of AA, B6 and DL equipped aircraft that use other WiFi systems and passengers on those aircraft are quite satisfied with their WiFi experience. The pathological defect belongs to those that think that UA will gain an advantage when there will be thousands of other WiFi equipped commercial aircraft and UA won't even have the majority of Starlink equipped aircraft. UA fans are deluded about a lot of things but the whole WiFi non-sense they spew has been one of the easiest to debunk

Pilot Paul — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:04:24 +0000

Tim Dunn: "AS and WN are both deep into Starlink installation." *(Checks Southwest's Starlink install progress)* *(Finds Southwest has only a single plane flying with Starlink)* Um, okay, Tim... whatever you say...

ORD_Is_My_Second_Home — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 15:15:40 +0000

Ah, Timbits, you're trying to disguise the point I made in the other thread in your diarrhea-like verbiage: you've stopped using the phrase "high-speed" in describing the execrable wi-fi on DL. So you're admitting it's never been high-speed and you're just spouting a propaganda phrase when you use it. I'll take the victory on that one. And, oh, by the way, why were you fired from Delta?