After United Airlines posted a teaser video on social media, the company's surprise ended up being a partnership with SpaceX to grant Starlink Wi-Fi for passengers during flights. This is a big deal for those who yearn to have stable internet connections while flying, as they will soon be able to get reliable and fast internet comparable to at-home Wi-Fi services.

Internet From SpaceX

Starting in early 2025, United Airlines will be installing Starlink on over 1,000 of its aircraft over the next couple of years. The Elon Musk company will achieve this using satellites that provide quality internet connections to passengers looking to use web browsers and apps while flying. This service is said to be free for all United travelers, regardless of the ticket or class purchased.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby shared his thoughts about the partnership with the media Friday morning:

“Everything you can do on the ground, you’ll soon be able to do on board 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.”

Currently, United Airlines uses four different Wi-Fi carriers based on certain plane models and regions. Panasonic, Intelsat, Viasat, and Thales provide this Wi-Fi to United passengers with mixed results. Viasat is said to be the fastest of the four and is typically what passengers will use when flying with Delta Air Lines and American Airlines.

More about Starlink On Flights

United isn't the first airline to adopt Starlink Wi-Fi services, as the internet is already available on JSX and Hawaiian Airlines flights. Other airlines that SpaceX has reached agreements with for future Starlink use include Qatar Airways, Air New Zealand, WestJet, airBaltic, and Zipair. 

According to Starlink's website, aircraft passengers can download data up to 220 Mbps. This provides enough speed to be able to stream with Netflix or Hulu or host a video conference call during a flight.

Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Jessica Rosenworcel expressed the need for Starlink to have competition, mentioning that nearly two of every three satellites in space belong to SpaceX.

“Our economy doesn’t benefit from monopolies. So we’ve got to invite many more space actors in, many more companies that can develop constellations and innovations in space”, said Rosenworcel during a conference this past Wednesday.

Musk announced on X earlier this month that Starlink is the only high-bandwidth internet provider that covers the entirety of Earth and"will probably deliver over 90% of all space-based Internet traffic next year."
 

As passengers grow more reliant on Wi-Fi during flights, United can certainly use Starlink to a competitive advantage soon until more airlines also get Starlink or a Starlink competitor shows up.