United Airlines announced plans Friday to bring fast, free Wi-Fi to its aircraft under an agreement using Space X’s Starlink satellite technology.
The announcement promised that passengers can use their devices the same way the do in their living rooms, said Linda Jojo, United’s chief customer officer in a press conference.
“It will be in every one of our jets from the biggest wide body to our regional fleet,” she said. “Our customers will be able to do things on the airplane that they can do in their living rooms – stream TV, respond to emails.”
While no definitive dates were given for a roll out other than later in 2025, travelers using Newark Airport, which is one of United major hubs, stand a good chance of using Starlink Wi-Fi early in the process, Jojo said.
“It depends on what is the first aircraft types certified and where does that aircraft fly,” she said. “It’s good news for those flying out of Newark. I think just about everything we fly goes in and out of Newark.”
No decision have been made on what types of aircraft will be equipped with Starlink first, she said.
SpaceX’s Starlink provides internet access around the world, including over oceans, polar regions and other remote locations previously unreachable by traditional cell or Wi-Fi signals, officials said.
United is the largest airline and first carrier in the world to commit to offering Starlink service on this scale, officials said.
“This technology is game changing,” Jojo said. “Starlink has work to do with our engineers to get the product certified for our aircraft,” Jojo said.
The Federal Aviation Administration and aircraft manufacturers will be involved in that certification process, JoJo said.
Actual installation of hardware on each airplane will take about two days, she said.
“It will be a much more rapid roll out than other innovations,” she said.
United currently charges for in flight Wi-Fi access, but that is partly linked to the limitations of current bandwidth, she said.
“It’s not enough to say we have it, it needs to reliable and have speed,” she said. “Starlink checks those boxes. We know we’ll have enough capacity and we’re thrilled to offer it for free.”
Starlink also will be available on the almost 100,000 seat back screens on United aircraft.
The number of seat back screens will grow as United continues to take delivery of new airplanes and retrofit existing aircraft, officials said.
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Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @CommutingLarry