- United Airlines is speeding up its Starlink Wi-Fi rollout for all its planes.
- Its entire regional fleet of planes should have free, much faster Starlink Wi-Fi by the end of 2025.
- The airline teased that it will ‘enable the living room in the sky experience.’
United Airlines has already teed up a major improvement to Wi-Fi inflight, beginning in 2025 – namely, a faster, more reliable, free service for all Mileage Plus members. But to kick off the year, timed to a few days before the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show takes flight, the airline is speeding 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 low-earth-orbit satellites starting in 2025. Now, though, United is slated to begin testing the service next month and expects the first commercial flight on an Embraer E-175 to happen in the Spring – aka some point between March and June.
Furthermore, United expects its entire regional fleet – consisting of two cabins – to have Starlink installed by the end of 2025, and at least one mainline plane will offer faster internet by that same time frame. The end goal is still, of course, Starlink on United’s entire fleet, which consists of over 1,000 aircraft.
United’s current inflight Wi-Fi solution is different depending on the aircraft, has varying quality, and isn’t free. That’s all changing with this partnership with Starlink and speaking to TechRadar, Grant Milstead United’s Vice President of Digital Technology, said that Starlink is “kind of enabling the living room in the sky experience.”
“Whether you want to be uber productive and have a low latency connectivity to your documents at work, whether it means you want to connect to your ring doorbell and check out the package you just got, whether it means you want to play a game, that kind of stuff like we never had those capabilities before,” explained Milstead.
That’s a significant improvement and would likely jump United ahead of competitors. In the current Wi-Fi state, I’ve had times when I can write a story and edit photos and easily upload and build it on our content management system, and there are times when it can be hard for an iMessage to go through.
It also won’t just kick in once you’ve above 10,000 feet, the product here will be gate to gate – meaning reliable connectivity when on the ground after you essentially connect to the network. You’ll need to be a Mileage Plus member – which is a completely free program to join – and there will be a new interface.
Milstead described it as a “brand new in-flight experience for Customers. So how you actually connect to Wi-Fi will be brand new, really refreshed.” And you’ll be able to sign in with your Mileage Plus account or sign-up either before or in-flight. Further, though, Grant noted that United is rolling out seatback screens to all of its main-line aircraft – aka not regional jets – and explained, “You can expect those to be a part of this experience as well. Connected seatback is going to be a big aspect of how we can enable that living room in the sky experience,” but stopped from fully pre-announcing the future.
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It certainly hints that United has a lot more planned beyond just faster, more stable Wi-Fi in the skies. And that does track as United has been focusing on technology and bettering the customer experience. In terms of airlines, United was the first to adopt iPhone Dynamic Island and Live Activity support, plus AirTag integration if your luggage gets lost was just rolled out. Milstead also called out the ‘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 extensively vetted their capability, and they have the biggest network.” He shared that Starlink has the best capability, the most satellites, and the most coverage, which will allow Starlink to grow with United. In the end, it will be incorporated into the airline’s entire fleet.
As for why its regional jets are first, it has to do with need as Milstead explained, “Regional aircraft use air to ground, and air to ground connectivity is going away.” It’s also not a small set of aircraft. At over 200, this will be the biggest Starlink installation in an airline to date.
United is clearly working to get the installs done on a fast-paced timetable, and Milstead said they’ll begin testing the install process in February, sharing “We’re going to have a really good understanding of what that looks like. But I think you can tell based on the fact that we’re already ahead of schedule.” And United will take the learnings from the install, which is already set to be easier and less time-consuming than previous Wi-Fi installs.
It’ll be an exciting time, and I’ll certainly be daydreaming of Starlink on my upcoming United Flights. “We’re really focused on innovating in this experience. So I think people should not only be excited about the fast, low latency connectivity but also be excited about the whole ecosystem that we can create on board,” closed Milstead.