At the moment, we’re seeing a bit of an inflight Wi-Fi revolution, in terms of airlines introducing Starlink Wi-Fi, which offers speeds that are truly in line with what you’d expect on the ground (unlike the faux “high speed” Wi-Fi offered by Viasat, etc., which can be good, but not reliably great).
Among the “major” US airlines, we’ve seen Alaska, Hawaiian, Southwest, and United, all go with Starlink, while we’ve seen Delta go with Amazon Leo (a questionable choice, given the timeline). Well, American has now announced plans to upgrade its inflight Wi-Fi, and it’s great news.
Free Starlink Wi-Fi coming to 500+ American planes in 2027
American is partnering with SpaceX to introduce Starlink Wi-Fi, with installation expected to begin as of early 2027. American plans to introduce this service on more than 500 aircraft. Specifically, it’ll be installed on all Airbus A320-family aircraft, including A319s, A320s, A321s, A321neos, and A321XLRs. However, there are no official plans for this to be introduced on other aircraft.
This service will be offered on a complimentary basis, and there’s no indication that you’ll even need to be an AAdvantage member to use the service.
Starlink is known for its high speed, low latency broadband internet, and the service is offered gate to gate. Starlink Wi-Fi allows for live streaming, productivity similar to on the ground (with high upload and download speeds), gaming, e-commerce, and more. Having recently taken my first flights with Starlink, I can confirm that this is a total game changer, as I see it.
Starlink is becoming increasingly popular with airlines. So far we’ve seen carriers like Aer Lingus, airBaltic, Air France, Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Copa Airlines, Emirates, Gulf Air, Hawaiian Airlines, Iberia, Korean Air, Lufthansa Group, Qatar Airways, SAS, Singapore Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and WestJet, all announce plans to install the service.
For context, American currently has Viasat Wi-Fi on most narrow body planes, and Panasonic Wi-Fi on most wide body planes. Wi-Fi is free for all AAdvantage members on Viasat aircraft, so American’s current Wi-Fi situation is pretty competitive.
Here’s how American’s Chief Customer Officer, Heather Garboden, describes this Starlink development:
“As a premium global airline, we are continuously seeking out world-class partners like Starlink to deliver what our customers need and want. The addition of Starlink solidifies American as a leading airline in keeping passengers connected in flight.”
“American is committed to elevating every aspect of our customers’ travel journeys, which in the air means keeping them connected and comfortable with the assurance they won’t have to download documents ahead of a flight or worry about lag time. Starlink’s high speed and low latency make the Wi-Fi more reliable, which matters when customers are trying to load pages, join real-time collaboration tools or stay connected consistently throughout a flight. We are excited to bring an at-home level of Wi-Fi experience to our narrowbody fleet, enabling our customers to work, game, stream and scroll endlessly.”
This is generally good news, but American is following
Hey, it’s great to see that American plans to introduce Starlink Wi-Fi, since I think this will quickly become an expectation among consumers, rather than something that’s just nice to have. So I commend American for making this announcement, though it’s also hard to pat the airline on the back too much:
- Installation is only starting in early 2027, roughly 18 months after United started introducing Starlink Wi-Fi; there was nothing stopping American from committing to this earlier (other than the cost)
- American only plans to install Starlink on under half of its aircraft (when you factor in regional jets), so I’m not sure why Boeing and Embraer planes aren’t getting this service; arguably it’s the Panasonic wide body planes most in need of the service
So yeah, this is good news, though United continues to have the edge here. American’s strategy is somewhere between Delta’s and United’s. Delta is (stupidly, in my opinion) waiting for Amazon Leo, which will only be available in 2028 at at the earliest (at which point every United plane is expected to have Starlink), and Delta only plans to install that on roughly half of its fleet.
We recently had reason to believe that American might be making a big inflight entertainment announcement, which could also include the return of seat back TVs on most narrow body aircraft. So I’m curious to see if there’s another announcement coming soon…
Bottom line
In early 2027, American Airlines plans to start rolling out Starlink Wi-Fi, which is an exciting development. However, the service will only come to around 500 aircraft, consisting of all narrow body Airbus planes. I’m not sure why Boeing planes aren’t getting any love or what’s going on there, because that doesn’t really strike me as a comprehensive solution.
Either way, it’s good news. In terms of the “big four” in the US rolling out next generation Wi-Fi, this should put United first, then Southwest, then American, and then Delta.
What do you make of American’s Starlink plans?
