A few weeks ago, American Airlines began a phased rollout of free inflight connectivity, which is a very exciting development for the airline. I know many travelers have been frustrated since launch, since the rollout has been gradual. Fortunately there’s some great news, as it’s my understanding that the rollout is now complete (at least for most aircraft types), so let’s cover all the details.
American now offers free Wi-Fi for AAdvantage members
American Airlines now offers free inflight Wi-Fi on most flights, sponsored by AT&T. Free Wi-Fi is available exclusively for members of the carrier’s AAdvantage program — you don’t actually have to credit your flight to the AAdvantage program, but instead, you just need to have an account that you can log into.
The airline highlights how it offers free high speed inflight connectivity on more planes than any other airline in the world.
Free Wi-Fi is now available on all narrow body mainline and regional aircraft that have Viasat and Intelsat connectivity. This includes Airbus A319/320/321s, Boeing 737s, Bombardier CRJ 700/900s, and Embraer E170/175s. In the coming weeks, the airline should also finalize rolling out free Wi-Fi on wide body aircraft with the Viasat system, which includes newly delivered Boeing 787-9s, and a limited number of the newer Boeing 787-8s.
The airline states that it’s working toward offering free Wi-Fi on 100% of its fleet, including Panasonic equipped aircraft, but there’s no timeline yet for that happening.
Here’s how Heather Garboden, American’s Chief Customer Officer, describes this development:
“As American celebrates 100 years of delivering industry firsts, including the first loyalty program and first airport lounge, we’re setting the standard for connectivity in the skies. Free high-speed Wi-Fi isn’t just a perk — it’s essential for today’s travelers. That’s why we’re proud to begin rolling out this new offering, sponsored by AT&T, across the majority of our fleet. Once roll out is completed, every AAdvantage member can stay connected, stream and share almost anywhere their journey takes them for free.”
What an exciting development for American passengers!
In recent years, American has really lost its edge when it comes to inflight connectivity, so I’d consider this to be a hugely positive development. Let me provide some background…
Going back several years, American was the best of the “big three” airlines when it came to inflight Wi-Fi. The airline had Viasat Wi-Fi on the most jets, meaning that passengers had access to fast Wi-Fi. Delta and United also charged for Wi-Fi, but had considerably worse systems for inflight connectivity. Over time, the situation changed:
Up until recently, Delta beat American, since it also offered fast Wi-Fi, but it was free. With this change, American has more planes than Delta with free Wi-Fi, so that’s pretty exciting. Meanwhile United is going to beat American and Delta once it has Starlink on a widespread basis, but near full rollout is only expected in very late 2027.
When it comes to American, the issue wasn’t just that the airline charged for Wi-Fi, but also how much the airline was charging. For example, Alaska, Southwest, and United, have all historically charged $8 per segment for Wi-Fi, while American’s pricing was all over the place, and sometimes cost $20+ per segment.
American didn’t even offer free inflight messaging, aside from the T-Mobile partnership. That’s wild because:
- It’s something that even United offers at this point, with its inferior connectivity system
- American promised several years back that it would introduce free inflight messaging, but then backtracked
Going back to early 2025, American CEO Robert Isom went on record as saying that the airline had no plans to introduce free Wi-Fi. Clearly over the past year, we’ve finally seen management change its strategy.
American has been greatly lagging both Delta and United when it comes to profitability. For so long, the airline thought it didn’t really need to compete with those airlines on product, but rather, that it could be profitable through its (primarily domestic) network.
That whole strategy just didn’t materialize, and there are some major changes at the airline, whereby management realizes the company needs to become more competitive, and focus on the passenger experience.
Look, I don’t think we’re suddenly going to see American retrofit narrow body planes with TVs, or massively improve the soft product, but I think the airline will no longer cut corners in areas where it’s so glaringly obvious that the airline needs to compete. With both Delta and United pledging to offer free Wi-Fi, it has been clear that American needed to do this as well, which is why we’re seeing this change.
Bottom line
American has now rolled out free inflight Wi-Fi, a process that has been taking place over the last few weeks. This should now be available on all narrow body mainline aircraft and regional jets with Viasat and Intelsat connectivity, and should also soon be available on select wide body aircraft.
Competitively, American needed to do this, so I’m happy to see the company has actually followed through on this. As someone who has been subscribed to a monthly Wi-Fi pass, this saves me hundreds of dollars per year.
What do you make of American introducing free Wi-Fi?