While we’ll have to mark this as “developing” for now, here’s some news that most people will probably consider to be positive…
In this post:
United now offering free Wi-Fi on Viasat & Panasonic jets?
United Airlines is currently aggressively rolling out free Starlink Wi-Fi throughout its fleet, and installation is supposed to be complete by the end of 2027. Starlink is an absolute game changer in terms of the speeds that it can offer.
The issue, of course, is that Starlink isn’t yet available on most planes. So those traveling on non-Starlink aircraft have been not only dealing with slower Wi-Fi speeds, but they’ve also had to pay for the service.
While there hasn’t yet been any sort of an official announcement, it appears that United may quietly be rolling out free Wi-Fi at the moment, across the board? Many people on Reddit report that Wi-Fi is now free on most United flights, including those operated by planes with Panasonic and Viasat Wi-Fi, so this includes many long haul flights as well (thanks to View from the Wing for flagging this).
There has been no announcement so far, and there are also some counterpoints (since it’s typically not “switched on” for all aircraft instantly). However, a vast majority of data points suggest that Wi-Fi has been free since yesterday.
This isn’t necessarily promoted in the way you expect. Instead, when you log into your MileagePlus account in the Wi-Fi portal, you may be given the option to connect at no cost. This seems to be unrelated to elite status or the class of service people are traveling in. So we’ll see how this goes, but it sounds like at least a majority of people are reporting seeing this.
Interestingly, it seems like free Wi-Fi is being turned on at the same time that the T-Mobile Wi-Fi benefit on United is being discontinued.
Free Wi-Fi on more aircraft is great news, mostly!
If United does in fact turn on free Wi-Fi throughout its fleet, that’ll be quite the game changer for the airline, as Delta’s competitive advantage for Wi-Fi continues to decrease, and arguably even go away.
Admittedly free Wi-Fi — especially on non-Starlink aircraft — is a double-edged sword. Nobody wants to pay for something, but when bandwidth is limited, you very much have a supply and demand issue. Is it better for those who really value Wi-Fi to be able to pay $8-10 to limit use of others, or is it better if everyone gets free but (likely) very slow Wi-Fi?
United really is going from worst to first with Wi-Fi, even though it’s a process. By late 2027, United should have Starlink Wi-Fi on all planes, while Delta won’t have next generation Wi-Fi on a single plane (Delta plans to introduce Amazon’s new Leo Wi-Fi, which will go live at some point in 2028, absolute best case scenario). And while I’m sure someone will be by shortly to suggest that Viasat is “high speed,” there’s simply zero comparison between that and Starlink.
Bottom line
While we’ll see how this plays out, many reports suggest that United is now offering free Wi-Fi even on planes without Starlink Wi-Fi, like those with Panasonic and Viasat. With American and Delta both offering free Wi-Fi on most aircraft, this is a major development for United. The challenge is that with limited bandwidth and an increase in use, you can also expect speeds to get worse.
If this free Wi-Fi does in fact stick around, that’s very exciting. But most exciting is what’s down the road, when all United planes have Starlink Wi-Fi.
What do you make of this United Wi-Fi development? If you’ve flown United since yesterday, were you offered free Wi-Fi when logging in?
Flew SFO-EWR yesterday on a 777-300 and had to pay $8
Flew United from O'hare to IAH round-trip last week. Had to pay for Viasat Wifi both ways. Airbus outbound, Boeing on the return.
Oops. Might want to delete this mis-informative non-story.
precisely.
UA has no intention of offering free WiFI until Starlink arrives; the fleet might be completed in 21 months.
UPDATE: United tells Live And Let’s Fly, “We haven’t made any changes to our current Wi-Fi policy.” Prices remain $8 for MileagePlus members and $10 for non-members on U.S. domestic and short- haul international flights.
Live And Let’s Fly has learned there was a minor technical issue yesterday that briefly provided free access on some flights, but that has since been resolved.
thank god Delta is still in the solid #2 position behind AA on wifi, huh? You seemed scared on your usual nervous rants about UA and wifi that Delta might be #3 already instead of by the end of 2026, as planned.
AA doesn't offer free high speed WiFi on any longhaul international routes; they do have more RJs but in terms of number of seats in the fleet ON TOP OF GLOBAL COVERAGE, DL still handedly leads.
But thank you for confirming that UA is nowhere near the top of the industry in high speed WiFi rollout despite the incessant blabbering from UA's fan nuts
yes. AA offers free high speed wifi on longhaul international routes. Go back and update your notes.
AA has offered high speed wifi internationally for years across the globe. Delta never has. EVER. DELTA HAS NEVER OFFERED FREE WIFI DOMESTICALLY ON THEIR OWN MAINLINE FLEET. AA does. United has plans within the near term to do so. Delta can't seem to figure that out.
Delta leads on absolutely nothing. They're behind AA today...
yes. AA offers free high speed wifi on longhaul international routes. Go back and update your notes.
AA has offered high speed wifi internationally for years across the globe. Delta never has. EVER. DELTA HAS NEVER OFFERED FREE WIFI DOMESTICALLY ON THEIR OWN MAINLINE FLEET. AA does. United has plans within the near term to do so. Delta can't seem to figure that out.
Delta leads on absolutely nothing. They're behind AA today and behind UA tomorrow. That won't change for years per Delta's own plans.
Your delusion is a fun distraction. Lord knows how you find Delta first place on high speed wifi, free or not. They've never been. They can't even figure out how to get it on their own planes
AA DOES NOT offer free high speed WiFi on any longhaul international routes.
DL offers free high speed WiFi to Europe and Africa and to S. America on their widebodies and on narrowbodies elsewhere to Latin America.
AA's WiFi product is not at all in the same league as DL's and you know it.
AA and UA might have plans but DL is delivering NOW.
Your inability to accept reality while trashing others is pathological.
Family member on a flight IAH - BOS this morning said WiFi was still paid. Curious about the return leg.
I just paid for wifi right now on FRA - SFO.
Counterpoint on a 321neo yesterday and it was still paid
Boo…
(They’re saying: “Boo-rad! Boo-rad!”)
I paid $8 on a MAX8 yesterday that departed at 12:30PM ET.
Wow these blogs really just parrot one another. The title from Gary's blog: "United Quietly Expanded Free Inflight Wi-Fi Beyond Starlink Aircraft". It's that meme about copying homework.
On an A321neo this morning with Viastat ORD-MCO that still has the old landing page and still only free for T-Mobile members.
Viasat is high speed.
There, I stole his line, he doesn't need to post anymore.
and yet you can't grasp that the equipment and feed on DL's Viasat equipped airplanes is the same as on UA's - which is why UA is not and will not promote this as high speed WiFi while DL does.
Is Starlink faster and will Amazon Leo be faster? of course, but 10% Starlink installation on UA mainline is nowhere near being close to a competitive advantage.
Thank you for noting that I...
and yet you can't grasp that the equipment and feed on DL's Viasat equipped airplanes is the same as on UA's - which is why UA is not and will not promote this as high speed WiFi while DL does.
Is Starlink faster and will Amazon Leo be faster? of course, but 10% Starlink installation on UA mainline is nowhere near being close to a competitive advantage.
Thank you for noting that I occupy every nook and cranny of your mind.
and someone please explain to us why T Mobile didn't pull its sponsorship benefit from AS which is also upgrading from slow FI to Starlink. AS clearly is better navigating the transition than UA - at least for now.
get a life, Timmy.
Your posts make everyone feel sorry for your sad life.
what is sad is that there are a handful of anoying UA fans that can't admit that other airlines put together AND EXECUTED on a high speed WiFi plan far before UA did.
UA is copying other carrier's strategies; I would have a whole lot less to write on aviation social media if some people could simply accept reality instead of trying to see "their" airline for far better than it actually is.
what's sad is that your life revolves around this issue and you have no other life.
Delta is copying other strategies on wifi -- they were never the first for free wifi. Delta still doesn't have domestic free high speed wifi while AA does and Delta will be the last to have free domestic free high speed wifi.
International...? Well, you already know how far behind delta is there ;)
Right, 10% of mainline has Starlink and it's steadily increasing. You are right about that. But one thing you should acknowledge is that nearly almost all of United's Express fleet has Starlink. 99% of the E175's and CRJ550's have Starlink, today. The -200's and 145s don't. They fly routes too short and have never had WiFi.
This is an advantage for UA today when flying Express. Yes it sucks to connect to mainline and...
Right, 10% of mainline has Starlink and it's steadily increasing. You are right about that. But one thing you should acknowledge is that nearly almost all of United's Express fleet has Starlink. 99% of the E175's and CRJ550's have Starlink, today. The -200's and 145s don't. They fly routes too short and have never had WiFi.
This is an advantage for UA today when flying Express. Yes it sucks to connect to mainline and most likely be on ViaSat, I acknowledge that. It's an inconsistentcy for now. But pretty much claming you never get to see Starlink on UA because it's only on 10% of the mainline fleet is just not right when nearly all of the Express fleet has Starlink. Especially considering UA Express' 175s fly routes up to 3 hrs routinely, it's significant enough to mention.
no, there is no advantage for UA.
AA and DL have the vast majority of their mainline domestic fleets with high speed WiFi.
AA and DL ALSO have the majority of their large RJs ALSO with high speed WiFi.
DL has high speed free WiFi on nearly all of its widebodies and offers free high speed WiFi across the Atlantic and to nearly all of Latin America.
AA and DL have more airplanes...
no, there is no advantage for UA.
AA and DL have the vast majority of their mainline domestic fleets with high speed WiFi.
AA and DL ALSO have the majority of their large RJs ALSO with high speed WiFi.
DL has high speed free WiFi on nearly all of its widebodies and offers free high speed WiFi across the Atlantic and to nearly all of Latin America.
AA and DL have more airplanes wiht high speed WiFi than UA. B6 has more SEATS with access to high speed WiFi than UA.
UA's own statements are that they expect to reach 500 mainline aircraft by the end of 2026 and their complete fleet by 2027.
Even if UA had the same equipment on its Viasat equpped aircraft, they have not bought the bandwidth to be able to offer ffree high speed WiFi to all which is why it is sporadic in offering at best and won't support the connectivity that AA and DL or B6 have.
The sooner you and the rest of the UA fan nut jobs accept that UA is 4th of 4 airlines with high speed WiFi and they are at a significant DISADVANTAGE to AA, B6 and DL and quit trying to tout what for now is just the hope of Starlink on UA's entire fleet
Tim, believe you are using the word "high speed", loosely!!
ViaSat isn't even close to the "high speed" that Starlink is. Not even close. If it was so high speed then why does everyone talk like Starlink is such a revolution for in-flight WiFi? Because Starlink is leagues faster.
I 100% agree UA is behind on mainline WiFi and has been for years. Still charges $8 and has slow Panasonic WiFi on widebodies and mediocre, sometimes okay ViaSat WiFi on narrow bodies. There is...
ViaSat isn't even close to the "high speed" that Starlink is. Not even close. If it was so high speed then why does everyone talk like Starlink is such a revolution for in-flight WiFi? Because Starlink is leagues faster.
I 100% agree UA is behind on mainline WiFi and has been for years. Still charges $8 and has slow Panasonic WiFi on widebodies and mediocre, sometimes okay ViaSat WiFi on narrow bodies. There is no argument about that. But again, downplaying Starlink's speeds vs ViaSat and the fact UA has it fully equipped **today** on 99% of the Express fleet is really insane to me.
Any regular pax who flies UA Express vs DL Connection would notice significantly faster, more reliable and more responsive WiFi on UA Express, and that's an advantage for UA. ViaSat does not have Starlink speeds. It's really as simple as that.
I was on two non-Starlink United Airlines flights yesterday. On the early morning flight, Wi-Fi required payment. On the late afternoon flight, it was free and the speed was adequate.
I was on a United flight last night and I paid up the $8
Oh, no… they got you… such a shame. Those cheap bastaads
it's okay just burning eight VC dollars