Inside United Airlines' plan to bring free Starlink Wi-Fi to every flight
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.
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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.
Timeline of United's Starlink rollout
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All of United's dual-cabin regional jets currently offer outdated air-to-ground internet access that's spotty, unreliable and excruciatingly slow.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 possible, Stoltz added.
By the end of the year, every dual-cabin regional jet will be outfitted with Starlink. To turn that into numbers, United will retrofit more than 40 aircraft a month starting in May, leading to a grand total of more than 300 installations on track for completion by the end of the year.
Merchant, whose team oversees the installation process on regional jets, told TPG that it'll take just four days (at most) to install Starlink on each plane. That's thanks what he says is the "simplicity and lightness" of the installation kit, but more on that below.
Stoltz wasn't ready to commit to a timeline for when mainline jets will start seeing Starlink, but he did drop a few hints.
"I think it's safe to say we would prioritize our older [Wi-Fi] systems first," he said, adding that "there's a lot of complexity that goes into which fleet we choose and for what reasons."
United currently uses four different Wi-Fi providers across its fleet, some more reliable than others. Wi-Fi Onboard (formerly Gogo) and Panasonic are two of the less reliable providers; hopefully, United will start by replacing those antennas first.
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Behind the scenes of United's Starlink rollout
Right now, Starlink has been installed on just one United Express Embraer E175, operated by SkyWest.
The next step in the journey is FAA certification (formally called a supplemental type certificate), which is expected in the coming days.
Once this certification has been obtained, the airline can perform additional testing before the first customer flight this spring.
On Tuesday, the carrier tested more than 100 simultaneous internet sessions on board the demonstration aircraft, and Starlink supposedly passed with flying colors. (Based on my experience using Starlink on board another carrier, I fully believe this.)
One of the things that United loves about Starlink "is how it's thought about from the perspective of a technician who is [installing and] maintaining the system," said Stoltz.
To demonstrate just how much easier and more efficient it is to install (and repair) Starlink service, Stoltz and Merchant did a little show and tell.
They displayed all of the equipment that used to be required for an air-to-ground network. Think miles of cables, ancient multiprong connectors and heavy-duty equipment weighing a whopping 300 pounds.
Starlink, meanwhile, requires just four parts: one antenna radome, two wireless access points and one power supply. That's it.
"The entire kit weighs just 85 pounds and is so much more repairable," said Merchant. This will make it much easier to fix inoperable Wi-Fi in the future.
Moreover, Starlink's light weight helps save fuel.
"It's like your average person (by weight) being taken off the aircraft ... it's great for our carbon footprint, as we're always looking to save weight. And [Starlink] has incorporated it all in this simplified way," explained Stoltz.
No part is more exciting to Merchant than the radome itself. If you've ever looked at the fuselage of existing satellite-equipped aircraft, you'll notice a bulge near the tail, which houses the chunky antenna.
With Starlink, the entire antenna is just one flat sheet that's no thicker than a laptop.
"It's a big deal to have a much lower antenna profile. We have those big satellite radomes on mainline planes today. You know, they're [creating] drag. So this just helps a lot," explained Merchant.
Each antenna can provide about 500 Mbps of bandwidth to a plane. That's sufficient for regional jets, which seat about 75 passengers. United said it's exploring adding more antennas to larger mainline planes to ensure everyone can stream their favorite shows and play all of their games without any lag.
On board United's first Starlink jet
Parked behind Stoltz and Merchant was United's first Starlink-equipped Embraer E175.
While the connectivity wasn't enabled yet, I got a glimpse at what the installation looked like on the plane itself.
The Starlink system has two power switches in the flight deck, which can be used to reset it or turn it off entirely during an emergency. The two access points, or routers, are located in ceiling panels above the cabin.
They're incredibly small and lightweight, and Merchant said they are strong enough to give everyone on board perfect reception.
Interestingly, this E175 also featured United's new larger carry-on bins, which can fit more than four rollaboard bags each — another major upgrade for flyers.
Because the system was powered off during my tour, I couldn't test how it worked, but I did learn two interesting tidbits.
First, there will be a hidden network for United flight attendants and pilots. This will enable employees to look up the weather and "other electronic flight bag type stuff" they might need during the flight. Funny enough, Stoltz said that "employees come out of the woodwork when they understand there's going to be bandwidth on the airplane, they're like 'Can we do this? Can we do that?' So this definitely unlocks capability beyond the customer."
As part of the Starlink rollout, United will flip the switch on free Wi-Fi for MileagePlus members. The airline isn't yet ready to demo the login experience, but I imagine it could contain some personalized features like Delta is doing with its free Wi-Fi.
"I can say it'll be one login experience. It'll be consistent, it'll be linked to your MileagePlus and you'll be able to use it on multiple devices," a United spokesperson told TPG.
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What's next for Starlink on United
United recognizes how big of an undertaking the Starlink rollout will be.
One need look only to United's recent history to recall another major cabin project that took far longer than most people expected. That's the Polaris business class rollout, which was initiated in 2017, but only hit 100% completion about seven years later.
Fortunately, the Starlink rollout isn't nearly as complex or time-consuming as Polaris, and it shouldn't be delayed, explained Stoltz.
"I don't anticipate the same growing pains," said Stoltz, adding that "we invited Starlink into the process as early as possible ... We're trying to get all of that work done up front so that as we think about how to roll out, we can do it in an efficient manner."
Hopefully, United can bring Starlink on board even faster than it promises. After all, its frequent flyers are waiting patiently.
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