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United Airlines to bring Musk's Starlink on flights by spring

United said access would be free only for MileagePlus members, revising an earlier plan to offer free Wi-Fi to all passengers

Published: Sun 5 Jan 2025, 8:14 PM

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  • Reuters

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A United Airlines plane takes off as another taxis at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) following the Thanksgiving holiday on December 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. — AFP file

A United Airlines plane takes off as another taxis at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) following the Thanksgiving holiday on December 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. — AFP file

United Airlines said on Sunday it expects to begin testing Elon Musk's Starlink in February for in-flight Internet services, and to first offer the connectivity on a commercial flight operated by Embraer E-175 aircraft this spring.

The airline plans to outfit its entire two-cabin regional fleet with the service by the end of 2025 and have its first Starlink-enabled plane on major routes in the air by the end of the year.

Starlink will eventually be available on all its flights, the airline said in a statement.

However, United said access would be free only for MileagePlus members, revising an earlier plan to offer free Wi-Fi to all passengers.

Last year, United signed a deal with Starlink to provide in-flight Internet services across its entire fleet of over 1,000 aircraft over the next several years.

Starlink, a unit of SpaceX, has inked deals with multiple airlines to provide in-flight internet services as it seeks to expand its reach beyond consumers and households in rural areas around the world with little to no internet access.

The satellite-based internet services provider has previously signed deals with Hawaiian Airlines and regional carrier JSX.



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