A number of months in the past, United Airways announced its cope with Starlink to supply in-flight web entry for its passengers. On the time, the airline stated it will begin testing the brand new service in early 2024 after which supply it on passenger flights later within the 12 months. 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.
After I talked to United’s Chief Buyer Officer Linda Jojo, she informed 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 total regional fleet by the top of the 12 months. The primary mainline airplane (assume Boeing 737s and Airbus 320s) will get Starlink earlier than the top of the 12 months.
The promise right here is that Starlink will principally make the in-flight Wi-Fi expertise the identical as on the bottom, with sufficient bandwidth to permit anybody on the airplane to stream reside video, entry productiveness apps and play reside video games.
“We’ve lots deliberate for our MileagePlus members this 12 months and including Starlink service on as many planes as we are able to – as rapidly as we are able to – is on the middle of all of it,” stated Richard Nunn, CEO of United’s MileagePlus frequent flyer program. “It’s not solely going to revolutionize the expertise of flying United, but it surely’s additionally going to unlock tons of latest partnerships and advantages for our members that in any other case wouldn’t be attainable.”
As soon as it’s out there, Wi-Fi over Starlink might be free for all members of United’s MileagePlus program. Fliers may also have the ability to join with a number of gadgets below the identical account.
