A couple of months in the past, United Airlines introduced its cope with Starlink to supply in-flight web entry for its passengers. At the time, the airline mentioned it could begin testing the brand new service in early 2024 after which supply it on passenger flights later within the yr. United has now accelerated this timeline a bit, with testing beginning subsequent month and the primary passenger flight to supply Starlink, an Embraer E-175 regional jet, taking off this spring.
When I talked to United’s Chief Customer Officer Linda Jojo, she instructed me the corporate had an aggressive schedule for the retrofit, with the set up of the brand new Starlink terminal scheduled to take about two days whereas the plane is in base (with the choice to separate the set up over two nights, too).
United now expects to put in Starlink on its complete regional fleet by the tip of the yr. The first mainline aircraft (assume Boeing 737s and Airbus 320s) will get Starlink earlier than the tip of the yr.
The promise right here is that Starlink will mainly make the in-flight Wi-Fi expertise the identical as on the bottom, with sufficient bandwidth to permit anybody on the aircraft to stream stay video, entry productiveness apps and play stay video games.
“We have loads deliberate for our MileagePlus members this yr and including Starlink service on as many planes as we are able to – as shortly as we are able to – is on the middle of all of it,” mentioned Richard Nunn, CEO of United’s MileagePlus frequent flyer program. “It’s not solely going to revolutionize the expertise of flying United, nevertheless it’s additionally going to unlock tons of latest partnerships and advantages for our members that in any other case wouldn’t be doable.”
Once it’s obtainable, Wi-Fi over Starlink will probably be free for all members of United’s MileagePlus program. Fliers may also be capable of join with a number of units underneath the identical account.
