Inside United Airlines' plan to bring free Starlink Wi-Fi to every flight

07.03.2025 - 13:17 / thepointsguy.com

The next generation of inflight Wi-Fi is almost ready for takeoff aboard United Airlines.

The Chicago-based carrier announced last year that it would equip its entire fleet with high-speed Starlink satellite Wi-Fi.

The best part? Connectivity will be free. All you'll need is a MileagePlus account to access the internet on as many devices as you can carry on board.

Staying connected: United Airlines details 6 big inflight entertainment updates, including all-new Control Tower map

Just six months since the initial announcement, United has made some stellar progress in getting its first Starlink-connected plane in the sky. In fact, the first jet to feature Starlink, an Embraer E175, is nearly ready to start flying.

As this milestone draws nearer, United invited a select group of media to examine what it takes to bring Starlink to the sky.

So, I flew down to Nashville, home to a maintenance hangar for regional subsidiary SkyWest Airlines, to take a look at what United and its partners have done so far.

And while I couldn't connect to the Starlink service just yet — that'll happen on a demonstration flight in the coming weeks — what I saw is a harbinger of things to come for the United onboard experience.

Starlink installations will begin with dual-cabin regional jets. To start, United is exclusively working on Embraer E170 and E175 installations.

After it obtains the required FAA certification for the E170 family, it will begin the installation process for the next regional fleet type: the CRJ-700 and CRJ-900 aircraft.

Starting with regional jets is a strategic and intentional move on United's part, because this fleet will see the biggest upgrades right from the outset.

All of United's dual-cabin regional jets currently offer outdated air-to-ground internet access that's spotty, unreliable and excruciatingly slow. While that technology was a big innovation when it was introduced in 2008, times have changed.

Starlink will offer a living room-like experience in the sky, no matter what plane you're flying.

You'll enjoy speedy downloads, crystal-clear streaming and uninterrupted gaming, all with low latency. Better yet, Starlink will be available from gate to gate, unlike the air-to-ground service, which only works above 10,000 feet.

Doug Stoltz, United's director of cabin systems, and Monal Merchant, director of technical operations for United Express, know how much of an upgrade Starlink will be.

Speaking to TPG at the behind-the-scenes preview event, Merchant said that "it was the tech innovation that made Starlink very attractive for aviation purposes. The simplicity of the system, the lightness of the system, the speeds."

Better yet, the Starlink installation process is being fast-tracked as much as