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- United Airlines is accelerating its Starlink Wi-Fi rollout for all of its planes.
- Its entire regional fleet of aircraft should have free and much faster Starlink Wi-Fi by the end of 2025.
- The airline said they “allow the living room in the sky experience”.
United Airlines has already made a major improvement to inflight Wi-Fi, starting in 2025 – that is, a faster, more reliable and free service for all Mileage Plus members. But to start the year, time to a few days before the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show takes flight, the airline will speed up its promised rollout.
In September 2024, United announced an agreement with SpaceX to bring Starlink to its entire fleet of aircraft to power improved Wi-Fi courtesy of satellites in low Earth orbit starting in 2025. Now, however, United is expected to start testing the service later. month and expects the first commercial flight on an Embraer E-175 to take place in the spring – even some point between March and June.
In addition, United expects that its entire regional fleet – consisting of two cabins – will have Starlink installed by the end of 2025, and at least one mainline aircraft will offer faster Internet by the same time. The ultimate goal is always, of course, Starlink on the entire fleet of United, which consists of more than 1000 aircraft.
United’s current in-flight Wi-Fi solution is different by aircraft, has varying quality and is not free. That’s all changed with this collaboration with Starlink and speaking to TechRadar, Grant Milstead United’s Vice President of Digital Technology, said that Starlink is “kind of allowing the living room experience in the sky.”
“Whether you want to be uber productive and have low latency connectivity to your documents at work, whether that means you want to connect to your the bell rings and check the package you just received, whether that means you want to play a game, that kind of thing like we’ve never had these capabilities before,” explained Milstead.
It’s a significant improvement and will likely leapfrog United ahead of the competition. In the current state of Wi-Fi, I had times when I could write a story and edit photos and easily upload and build on our content management system, and there are times when it can be difficult for an iMessage to to pass
Also, it doesn’t just fit once you get over 10,000 feet, the product here will be door to door – which means a reliable connection when on the ground after being essentially connected to the network. You need to be a member of Mileage Plus – which is a completely free program to join – and there will be a new interface.
Milstead described it as a “new in-flight experience for Customers. So how you actually connect to Wi-Fi will be new, really refreshed.” And you can sign up with your Mileage Plus account or sign up before or in flight. In addition, however, Grant noted that United is rolling out seatback screens to all of its mainline planes — not even regional jets — and explained, “You can expect those to be part of that experience as well. The connected seatback it will be a big aspect of how we can activate that room of life in the experience of heaven”, but stopped short of fully announcing the future.
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It certainly suggests that United has a lot more planned beyond just faster, more stable Wi-Fi in the sky. And that follows as United has been focused on technology and improving the customer experience. As for airlines, United was the first to adopt iPhone Dynamic Island and Live Activity support, plus AirTag integration if your luggage gets lost was just right. Milstead also has a “Terminal Guide” in the United app, which can help you from the moment you approach the airport to boarding.
Rest assured, United chose Starlink for a reason – “We have extensively checked their capacity, and they have the largest network.” He shared that Starlink has the best capacity, the most satellites and the most coverage, which will allow Starlink to grow with United. Eventually, it will be incorporated into the airline’s entire fleet.
As its regional jets are the first, it has to do with the need as Milstead explained, “The regional planes use the air to the ground, and the connectivity air to the ground is spread.” It’s not even a small group of aircraft. At more than 200, this will be the largest Starlink installation on an airline to date.
United is clearly working to get the installation done on a quick schedule, and Milstead said they will begin testing the installation process in February, sharing “We have a really good understanding of what it looks like. But I think you can tell based on the fact that we are already in advance.” And United will take the learning from the installation, which is already established to be easier and less time than the previous Wi-Fi installation.
It’s going to be an exciting time, and I’ll definitely be dreaming of Starlink on my future United flights. “We’re really focused on innovation in this experience. So, I think people should not only be excited about the fast and low-latency connectivity, but also be excited about the whole ecosystem that we can create on board,” he closed Milstead.
