September 14th 2024.
On Friday, United Airlines made a major announcement about their plans for the future. They have teamed up with Elon Musk's Starlink satellite network to offer free Wi-Fi on all of their airplanes in the coming years. This is a huge deal, as United plans to connect all 1,000 of their aircraft to the service, making it the largest agreement that Starlink has with a commercial airline.
According to company officials, testing for the new Wi-Fi service will begin in 2025 and the first connected flights are expected to take place later that year. Linda Jojo, United's chief customer officer, shared during a call with reporters that this partnership will allow their customers to do things on the plane that they would normally do in the comfort of their own living room.
While details about the rollout are still being finalized, Jojo did mention that they are still working on which markets will have access to the new service first. When asked about when flights out of Denver International Airport will have the new internet connection, Jojo jokingly replied, "We're taking requests."
The installation of Starlink, which is owned by Musk's company SpaceX, will be done gradually by aircraft type. Jojo explained that they have not yet decided which type of plane will have the service first, but they anticipate it will take a couple of years to implement it across their entire fleet. The equipment for Starlink will be engineered by the manufacturer of the planes and certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Starlink currently has over 6,300 satellites orbiting the Earth. Jojo emphasized that the way their internet service works is "fundamentally different" from the Wi-Fi currently available onboard. She also stated that it is no longer enough for airlines to simply offer Wi-Fi, it must be reliable, fast, and efficient, which is exactly what Starlink provides.
Although United did not disclose the financial details of their agreement with Starlink, it was reported that Delta Airlines has previously tested the service. In addition, United's announcement comes after recent issues with their Wi-Fi service, including delays and cancellations due to thunderstorms.
Once this new service is fully implemented on United's planes, passengers will have access to livestream TV shows and movies without any buffering, as well as the ability to download and upload documents, play live games, shop online, and connect multiple devices at once under one user. This is a huge upgrade from the current Wi-Fi service, which charges $10 for passengers and $8 for United MileagePlus members.
Jojo stated that United viewed this upgrade as a way to enhance the customer experience, rather than just a revenue generator. She also mentioned that the previous fees for internet service were in place to control the number of people using it and preserve bandwidth. However, with the capacity provided by Starlink, they are thrilled to be able to offer it to all of their customers for free. This is an exciting development for United Airlines and their passengers, and shows their commitment to providing top-notch service.
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