While there are lots of areas where United Airlines has been improving, Wi-Fi is an area where the carrier has historically lagged both American and Delta.
Fortunately that’s going to change — several months ago, United announced plans to introduce free Starlink Wi-Fi throughout its fleet. Now the airline has revealed plans to accelerate the rollout timeline, and I’m mighty impressed. This will be a game changer for United, once available on a widespread basis.
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United Airlines will have Starlink Wi-Fi on 1,000+ jets
United Airlines has signed an agreement with SpaceX, to introduce Starlink Wi-Fi on more than 1,000 aircraft. This is the largest Starlink deal we’ve seen with an airline to date.
Best of all, United plans to offer Starlink Wi-Fi for free to all MileagePlus members. That’s not surprising, when you consider that United is increasingly in Delta’s league, and Delta is offering fast and free Wi-Fi.
Starlink is known for its high-speed, low-latency broadband internet, and the service will be offered gate to gate. United highlights how Starlink Wi-Fi will allow 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, Hawaiian Airlines, Qatar Airways, and WestJet, all announce plans to install the service.
What’s also great about Starlink is that the installation process is pretty quick, once aircraft are certified to have it installed.
United is by far the most tech-savvy US airline, and I’d be willing to bet that the airline invests more in technology than peers. So it’s fitting that United would also go with the most cutting edge Wi-Fi provider. This would also explain why United didn’t announce a larger Wi-Fi retrofit plan with one of the more established inflight Wi-Fi providers prior to the recent announcement.
Here’s how United CEO Scott Kirby describes this development:
“Everything you can do on the ground, you’ll soon be able to do onboard a United plane at 35,000 feet, just about anywhere in the world. This connectivity opens the door for an even better inflight entertainment experience, in every seatback – more content, that’s more personalized. United’s culture of innovation is, once again, delivering big for our customers.”
Here’s how United MileagePlus CEO Richard Nunn describes this:
“We have a lot planned for our MileagePlus members this year and adding Starlink to as many planes as we can – as quickly as we can – is at the center of it all. It’s not only going to revolutionize the experience of flying United, but it’s also going to unlock tons of new partnerships and benefits for our members that otherwise wouldn’t be possible.”
United Airlines Starlink Wi-Fi rollout timeline
What’s United’s plan for rolling out Starlink Wi-Fi? United expects to offer Starlink Wi-Fi on 1,000+ planes, including mainline aircraft and regional jets. Up until now, the airline has been light on details, but we now have some more information.
United plans to first offer Starlink Wi-Fi on its United Express regional jets. The first Starlink Wi-Fi test should take place in February 2025. The plan is for the first regional jet with Starlink Wi-Fi to be in commercial service by the spring of 2025, and for all Embraer E175s to feature Starlink before the end of 2025. United also expects its first mainline aircraft to be fitted with Starlink before the end of 2025.
There’s no timeline beyond that as of now, other than that the entire fleet will get Starlink Wi-Fi “over the next several years.” Either way, the fact that all two-cabin regional jets will get Starlink before the end of 2025 is super impressive.
For some context on United’s Wi-Fi situation, the airline currently uses four different Wi-Fi providers:
- The regional jets have Intelsat Wi-Fi (formerly known as Gogo)
- Most wide body jets, plus select A319s, A320s, and 757s, have Panasonic Wi-Fi
- Most non-MAX 737s have Thales Wi-Fi
- Most 737 MAX aircraft, A321neos, and select A319s, have Viasat Wi-Fi
Bottom line
United Airlines plans to introduce free Starlink Wi-Fi. United has been lagging American and Delta when it comes to inflight connectivity, so this will be a massively positive change.
Initially the airline didn’t provide many details regarding the timeline, but we now have some more information. United will start by introducing Starlink Wi-Fi on regional jets, with all Embraer E175s expected to get Starlink before the end of 2025. Then the first mainline aircraft will get Starlink Wi-Fi before the end of 2025.
Over the coming years, we should see Starlink Wi-Fi installed on over 1,000 aircraft, though as you can tell, that’ll require some patience. Kudos to United for finally addressing its Wi-Fi challenges in the best way possible.
What do you make of United introducing Starlink Wi-Fi?
AA is little too proud of their wifi with the prices they charge, especially for relatively short flights.
It looks great to see United Airlines installing Starlink WiFi.
Glad to hear the announcement but 2030 is still a long time away.
Where was 2030 mentioned? I think the expectation is to have Starlink installed much sooner than that.
This cannot happen soon enough IMO. Hawaiian's Starlink is super fast and consistent on transoceanic flights (AS, please don't screw that up).
Based on my 6 AA flights last week, AA's wifi generally stinks. Based on my UA December flights, their WiFi service is consistently "inconsistent", especially over the ocean. Seeing that UA has 4 separate wifi providers for their fleet may explain those shortfalls. But, why or why are they starting with the...
This cannot happen soon enough IMO. Hawaiian's Starlink is super fast and consistent on transoceanic flights (AS, please don't screw that up).
Based on my 6 AA flights last week, AA's wifi generally stinks. Based on my UA December flights, their WiFi service is consistently "inconsistent", especially over the ocean. Seeing that UA has 4 separate wifi providers for their fleet may explain those shortfalls. But, why or why are they starting with the regionals??
@Al- Starlink may not have "live tv" per se, but in my HA Starlink experiencs, there have been no issues with live streaming virtually anything.
Ah, so I could pull up YouTube TV on starlink?
YouTube would work fine. It also works pretty well on Viasat equipped planes in my experience.
Yup, and most every streaming service in my HA Starlink experience
Any idea if United will add live tv once they have starlink installed on their planes? Especially now as we approach NFL playoffs, would be nice to have live tv available.
To clarify: I'm aware playoffs will be long over by the time the first plane gets starlink. I was just giving an example.
Hi Ben, thanks for the update. One note about the current provider of the regional jets. The technology (air-to-ground, using cell towers) which delivers the internet is still effectively Gogo, not Intelsat. The only involvement from Intelsat is running a portal for the service. Notably, Intelsat also has a low-latency internet product that it will install on American, Air Canada, and Alaska regional jets starting in 2025.
and the question is how much better (or worse) intelsat's ground based system will be. It is hard to believe it can be a gate to gate solution if it is ground based.
DL is adding Hughes satellite internet to its regional jets and 717s even though those aircraft generally do not leave the continental US.
UA is clearly able to move forward with its regional jets before mainline because it is not as new...
and the question is how much better (or worse) intelsat's ground based system will be. It is hard to believe it can be a gate to gate solution if it is ground based.
DL is adding Hughes satellite internet to its regional jets and 717s even though those aircraft generally do not leave the continental US.
UA is clearly able to move forward with its regional jets before mainline because it is not as new technology and the components are more available than newer technology.
Intelsat won't have a ground-based system. Only Gogo is a ground-based system. Right now, Intelsat just runs the portal and payments for Gogo; the network (i.e. the internet) is Gogo's.
The new Intelsat's system will use both low-earth-orbit / LEO satellites (like Starlink) and geosyncrhonous orbit / GEO satellites (like Viasat). The Hughes system also promises to use both LEO and GEO satellites.
good morning, Ben.
can you provide data to back up this statement?
"and the airline invests more in technology than peers."
@ Tim Dunn -- Sure, United without a doubt has the best technology of any airline. United invests in technology the way that Emirates invests in wine. During the Q3 2024 earnings call, United's Chief Customer Officer stated that the airline has invested $14 billion in technology over the past decade.
Now, not every airline is so direct about how much it invests in this area, but I would be willing to bet just about...
@ Tim Dunn -- Sure, United without a doubt has the best technology of any airline. United invests in technology the way that Emirates invests in wine. During the Q3 2024 earnings call, United's Chief Customer Officer stated that the airline has invested $14 billion in technology over the past decade.
Now, not every airline is so direct about how much it invests in this area, but I would be willing to bet just about anything that these investments exceed those of other airlines, to the point that I'm comfortable making that claim. Do you have any data to suggest that Delta (or any other airline) invests more?
I don't want to argue semantics with you all day, so I've added a qualifier to that statement in the post, saying that "I'd be willing to bet." Hopefully that makes you happy.
Typo in the actual post where it reads "willing to get that"
@ DENDAVE -- Whoops, thanks!
Just based on the app functionality and what can be done self -service United is way ahead of Delta in technology while American app is rudimentary
That is all that was asked. You don’t have the data. I am not interested in arguing w anyone.
Having a better product- which is subjective- does not mean greater spend.
AA and DL have spent more on WiFi installation partly because Starlink is a relatively fast and simple installation compared to Viasat. That is the nature of technology development.
Do you have the data, Tim?
no, I don't because airlines do not break out IT spending - which was why I pushed back on the statement Ben made and which he, accurately, changed to an opinion.
We simply have no idea what each airline is spending on IT but I would strongly bet that WN is leading the industry in IT spending right now because they were so behind the curve.
And let's also not deduce that more functionality or...
no, I don't because airlines do not break out IT spending - which was why I pushed back on the statement Ben made and which he, accurately, changed to an opinion.
We simply have no idea what each airline is spending on IT but I would strongly bet that WN is leading the industry in IT spending right now because they were so behind the curve.
And let's also not deduce that more functionality or more data is a result of more IT spending.
There are certain self-certain transactions that some airlines offer via their technology rather than requiring an agent that others do not - but that again, is not a correlation of spending.
CO had pretty robust IT functionality compared to peers before UA ever acquired them.
UA also allows stuff like displaying standby lists and seat maps on their open website - without being on that flight - both before and after the flight.
DL cuts off access to the seat map for all app and internet users at least by the time boarding starts. DL does not allow anyone that is not in the gatehouse or on the flight to access the standby list. They could easily keep that data up but choose what they do for policy reasons.
AA probably has a little further to go but all 3 offer core functionality with the "best IT" title related to complex transactions.
and, if technology spending includes WiFI and AVOD, then DL has undoubtedly spent more and continues to spend more. Viasat is more expensive to install. DL has AVOD on nearly all of its mainline fleet - 717s will never have it, some recently acquired used aircraft are still in conversion.
And there is a huge amount of IT spending that is not customer accessible.
So, UA might have the most capable passenger self-service systems (again, not quantifiable based on statements made here) but UA probably has not spent or will spend as much on pure IT as WN is spending or on total technology including WiFi installation and providing the service as well as AVOD.
"And let's also not deduce that more functionality or more data is a result of more IT spending."
Perhaps not, but it certainly reflects a MUCH better CTO/CIO at United than Delta in prioritization of resources if nothing else.
If you think Delta's MULTIPLE meltdowns since covid where the crew scheduling software fell apart or times when crowd strike destroyed only Delta reflects some amazing IT or outsized spend at Delta, you're grasping at straws...
"And let's also not deduce that more functionality or more data is a result of more IT spending."
Perhaps not, but it certainly reflects a MUCH better CTO/CIO at United than Delta in prioritization of resources if nothing else.
If you think Delta's MULTIPLE meltdowns since covid where the crew scheduling software fell apart or times when crowd strike destroyed only Delta reflects some amazing IT or outsized spend at Delta, you're grasping at straws (which you always are anyway).
Just pleasantly read an article about United wifi (and note how wrong you were in previous discussions about United's wifi) and move along. Not every article should be related to Delta.
For a guy that speaks his own opinion as fact, it's ironic that you demand some backup for a spend item that's clearly obvious to anyone with a brain after looking at United tech vs Delta tech and how often Delta's network has fallen apart due to tech, nothing else.
You can scream into the ground as much as it upsets you when people post about how obvious it is, but you don't get to remake reality in your own distorted image.
Delta should start by providing wifi on all mainline aircraft. They don't today. And then they should focus resources on providing an internet provider that works globally. I find it terribly amusing seeing friends on social media rage about their 14 hour flight with no wifi whatsoever on Delta. But, you are defending the airline that's happily kept GoGo on the 717 for YEARS while every AA mainline plane had satellite internet.
max,
1. If DL had a CIO that overly relied on CRWD, then United SHOULD HAVE purchased enough aircraft from Airbus BEFORE the MAX problems which have been going on for years.
UA cxld more flights in 2024 than DL. Thousands more. On a smaller network.
You and others would love to throw dirt at DL over CRWD but you can't accept that UA and AS and WN have been excessively dependent...
max,
1. If DL had a CIO that overly relied on CRWD, then United SHOULD HAVE purchased enough aircraft from Airbus BEFORE the MAX problems which have been going on for years.
UA cxld more flights in 2024 than DL. Thousands more. On a smaller network.
You and others would love to throw dirt at DL over CRWD but you can't accept that UA and AS and WN have been excessively dependent on Boeing and it has come back to bite them.
DL has been very dependent on Airbus but Airbus has largely been able to deliver for DL.
AA has split its fleet other than for widebodies - and the only problems they have is with widebodies.
2. DL has free high speed WiFi on 600 aircraft predominantly serving the domestic market but they continue to turn new markets on esp. to Europe.
DL obviously made the decision to go with Intelsat over the Pacific and their Pacific WiFi plans are delayed because of intelsat's Pacific satellite delays. NO airline offers free high speed WiFi across the Pacific including AA and UA.
UA and AA have precisely ZERO aircraft that offer free high speed WiFi to any part of the world.
and AA and UA are not planning on putting high speed Wifi on their 50 seat regional jets - so there will be far more seats per day on AA and UA's network that never will get WiFi than DL's Pacific operation which will get it at some point.
You don't get to pick and choose the things you want to throw mud at someone else for unless you're spotless -and no airline in the world has free high speed WiFi across their entire network.
I stopped reading when you tried to relate IT spend (the infrastructure of the airline) and the role of a CIO/CTO to that of the fleet planning organization about who should've bought what airplane when and how United should've planned for Boeing failure. Seems Delta didn't either since they have 100 Max10s on order. United has done something about their Max10 and made them changeable to Max9. Delta has just sat on their hands and...
I stopped reading when you tried to relate IT spend (the infrastructure of the airline) and the role of a CIO/CTO to that of the fleet planning organization about who should've bought what airplane when and how United should've planned for Boeing failure. Seems Delta didn't either since they have 100 Max10s on order. United has done something about their Max10 and made them changeable to Max9. Delta has just sat on their hands and hoped for the best.
This is a new low in terms of topic coherence even for you. Even when you try to change the topic to fleet planning from IT spend you sound like someone who has no idea what he's talking about.
@MaxPower, I stopped reading after he said no. I asked a yes or no question and got nine paragraphs of gobbledegook. But, in a very atypical TD move, he did actually directly answer a direct question. Credit where it’s due.
max
you prove the hypocrisy of your logic.
It is ok to throw doodoo at DL over the CRWD incident but are unable to accept that UA made the exact same error in relying on Boeing for its primary supplier for a product that was PROVEN to have issues long before United doubled down on even more orders during covid.
Neither have anything to do with spending but rather the quality of the...
max
you prove the hypocrisy of your logic.
It is ok to throw doodoo at DL over the CRWD incident but are unable to accept that UA made the exact same error in relying on Boeing for its primary supplier for a product that was PROVEN to have issues long before United doubled down on even more orders during covid.
Neither have anything to do with spending but rather the quality of the supplier.
Delta has far more Airbus aircraft on order than United could hope to have right now.
DL can wait for the MAX 10. They don't want a smaller aircraft.
UA is the carrier that was begging Airbus to find some new airplanes.
walk away and quit telling other people their logic is flawed when it is you that can't accept that the very same logic you want to ding DL for applies to UA.
difference is that DL's IT systems are back up while UA has not replaced the aircraft it had on order which Boeing has STILL NOT DELIVERED.
How many airplanes short was Boeing in delivering to UA in 2024, Max?
As part of the Delta Crowdstrike kerfuffle, Delta said “Delta has a long track record of investing in safe, reliable and elevated service for our customers and employees. Since 2016, Delta has invested billions of dollars in IT capital expenditures, in addition to the billions spent annually in IT operating costs.”
I think it's a pretty safe guess that they spent less than United over the last decade, otherwise they could have said "tens of...
As part of the Delta Crowdstrike kerfuffle, Delta said “Delta has a long track record of investing in safe, reliable and elevated service for our customers and employees. Since 2016, Delta has invested billions of dollars in IT capital expenditures, in addition to the billions spent annually in IT operating costs.”
I think it's a pretty safe guess that they spent less than United over the last decade, otherwise they could have said "tens of billions of dollars".
https://skift.com/2024/08/06/microsoft-says-outdated-tech-most-likely-led-to-deltas-meltdown/
I was certain that someone would bring up CRWD so I am glad we can deal w/ that issue right here and now.
1. DL had the MOST impact from CRWD but UA cancelled thousands of flights as well - they were the second most impacted.
2. WN is the only one of the big 4 that didn't have any CRWD impact - because they didn't use it. They do have some sort of...
I was certain that someone would bring up CRWD so I am glad we can deal w/ that issue right here and now.
1. DL had the MOST impact from CRWD but UA cancelled thousands of flights as well - they were the second most impacted.
2. WN is the only one of the big 4 that didn't have any CRWD impact - because they didn't use it. They do have some sort of cybersecurity software but not CRWD.
3. DL said that 60% or so of its servers were offline because of CRWD which means they might have been overdependent on one provider but it says nothing about how much money they spent. We have no idea the percentage of AA or UA's operation - or any other airline - ran on CRWD.
and, if nothing else the DL- CRWD incident comes down to DL's dependence on a supplier - no different than UA and AS' dependence on Boeing and the groundings of the MAX 9 which they endured because of the AS accident.
DL ended 2024 with the best on-time of the continental US airlines - only HA was better with their much smaller operation. DL's rate of cancellation appears to be lower than most of its peers, even with the CRWD incident.
The DOT has not released full cancellation data for 2024 - they only count domestic flights anyway - but DL by the end of Sept cxld 6000 less flights than UA and 9000 less than AAL for a cancellation rate that was bested only by WN at the top and HA.
It's also notable that AA has the worst ontime of the big 4 despite having minimal CRWD impact and no MAX 9s.
so, once again, there is no evidence that CRWD or Boeing had anything to do with long-term operational reliability and neither has anything to do with how much any airline spends on anything.