Satellite-based internet will be offered on a lot more major airline flights soon.
American Airlines upgrading over 500 planes with Starlink internet
American Airlines announced today that it has tapped Starlink’s satellite internet service to power inflight Wi-Fi starting in Q1 2027.
The wireless internet upgrade will come to “more than 500 narrowbody aircraft” starting early next year.
“Starlink is widely regarded as the world’s most advanced satellite constellation using a low Earth orbit to deliver broadband internet capable of supporting inflight streaming, online gaming, collaborative meeting tools and more,” American Airlines says. “With thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit, Starlink can deliver multigigabit connectivity to aircraft using its Aero Terminal, which can support up to 1 Gbps per antenna.”
The Starlink-powered wireless internet upgrade is planned for “more than 500 Airbus aircraft, including new A321XLR and A321neo deliveries.”
American Airlines is only the latest airline to enter a deal with Starlink for inflight Wi-Fi service. United Airlines has already started deploying Starlink-based internet on planes. Southwest Airlines is launching Starlink-based internet this summer.
Top comment by OrangeCactus
People in the comments are so salty about Starlink. I flew Alaska/Hawaiian last weekend and was provided free Starlink wifi and got over 400 mbps download on the plane. Was using it to watch youtube NBA highlights and then went to their free entertainment and was watching movies. It was freaking awesome and I think for business passengers, it's literally a game changer to have high speed wifi at all times during flights and provided for free (on United it seemed to require watching an advertisement but still didn't cost $$$). I don't have Starlink at home but I live in a fairly rural area where some people definitely do have it and I'm a huge fan of expanding internet access and accessibility so this is a huge W for consumers!
Meanwhile, Amazon recently bought Globalstar. This makes Amazon Apple’s emergency satellite service provider for iPhone and Apple Watch. Amazon’s Globalstar purchase bolsters its growing Amazon Leo offering.
Amazon will also provide satellite-based Wi-Fi on flights in the future.
Earlier this year, Delta and Amazon inked a deal to use Amazon Leo satellite internet for inflight Wi-Fi. JetBlue also tapped Amazon Leo as its satellite-based internet provider.
Related Starlink stories:
- iOS 18.3 includes Starlink satellite connectivity for select iPhone users
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