Earlier this year, Neowin reported that United Airlines would be installing Starlink from spring 2025. Sticking to this timetable, the company announced today that it has installed the technology on the first of many regional airplanes.
With the first installation out of the way, the company says that starting in May, it will install Starlink on over 40 regional planes each month until the end of the year. It said that Starlink takes about 8 hours to install in planes, excluding the de-installation of any existing equipment, testing, or aircraft modification. This makes it around ten times faster to install than non-Starlink equipment.
"Our ability to roll-out this innovative service with unprecedented speed and scale is a direct result of the advanced equipment, technology and team of experts at United," said United's VP of Digital Technology, Grant Milstead. "Starlink has been a terrific partner – our combined spirit of innovation and collaboration will enable us to hit our goal of more than 300 regional aircraft installations before the end of this year."
For those that are not aware, Starlink is a satellite constellation in orbit around the Earth, put there by SpaceX. If you read This Week in Rocket Launches each Saturday, you will know that SpaceX launches a fair few of these satellites each week aboard Falcon 9 rockets.
With Starlink, customers on Earth can get internet connectivity from anywhere in the world. Equipping them on planes, as United Airlines is doing, is an affordable way to ensure passengers get reliable internet access during their flights to make their trip more comfortable.
The Starlink installations weigh 85 pounds; this is lighter than solutions from other providers, meaning planes save on fuel. United Airlines says that the download speed of Starlink maxes out at 250 Mbps, which is about 50 times faster than average regional flight download speeds, according to the company.
United Airlines is making access to Starlink free for MileagePlus members, it’s important to note that membership of this program is also free. If you are interested in signing up, you can do so at united.com/starlink.
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