United plans to boost its in-flight entertainment options with free satellite Wi-Fi service from SpaceX's Starlink. In an announcement, the airline said its fleet of mainline and regional aircraft, more than 1,000 planes, will receive the Wi-Fi service starting sometime next year after it begins testing in early 2025.
The company said it will deliver comparable Wi-Fi to what customers get on the ground, even at 35,000 feet, to enable services including TV streaming, gaming and social media on seatback screens as well as personal devices for fliers. The rollout will happen over several years and will make in-flight internet accessible in places "previously unreachable by traditional cell or Wi-Fi signals" such as oceans and polar regions, United said in its release.
The service, United said, will support multiple devices per passenger.
While in-flight Wi-Fi is available on many airlines, it's typically offered as a rewards perk or for a fee, sometimes as much as $25.
Starlink says its in-flight Wi-Fi speeds can range from 40Mbps to 220Mbps per plane (which would be shared by all passengers) with latency of less than 99ms. The company provides internet from its constellation of about 6,300 working satellites.