United Airlines installs Starlink terminals on its passenger planes for the first time

United Airlines will begin installing Starlink terminal components in spring 2025. Following that timeline, the company announced today that it has installed the technology on the first of many regional aircraft. With the first installation complete, the company said it will install Starlink on more than 40 regional aircraft each month starting in May and continuing through the end of the year.

The company said that installing Starlink on an aircraft will only take about eight hours and does not require offloading any existing equipment, testing or aircraft modifications. This makes its installation time about ten times faster than non-Starlink devices.

"Our ability to launch this innovative service at unprecedented speed and scale is a direct result of United's advanced equipment, technology and team of experts," said Grant Milstead, United's vice president of digital technology. "Starlink is an incredible partner - our shared spirit of innovation and collaboration will enable us to achieve our goal of having Starlink installed on more than 300 regional aircraft by the end of this year."

Starlink is a satellite constellation launched by SpaceX in orbit around the Earth. SpaceX launches a considerable number of these satellites every week using Falcon 9 rockets.

With Starlink, users on Earth can get an Internet connection from anywhere in the world. Having these devices on planes, like United Airlines does, is an affordable way to ensure passengers have reliable internet access during their flights, making their travels more comfortable.

At 85 pounds, the Starlink unit is lighter than solutions from other vendors, meaning aircraft can save fuel compared to other options. Not only that, according to United Airlines, Starlink's maximum download speed is 250Mbps, which is 50 times the average download speed of regional flights.

United Airlines offers free access to Starlink to MileagePlus members, and it’s worth noting that membership in the program is also free. If you are interested in registering, please visit united.com/starlink.