Passengers flying United Airlines will soon be navigating the internet courtesy of Elon Musk’s Starlink.
On Sunday, the air carrier announced “an accelerated timeline” for what it calls “the world’s fastest, most reliable connectivity in the sky.”
Starlink testing will begin for the airline next month, with the first commercial flight with the service taking off this spring on a United Embraer E-175 aircraft, according to a press release.
“We have a lot planned for our MileagePlus members this year and adding Starlink to as many planes as we can – as quickly as we can – is at the center of it all,” Richard Nunn, CEO of United MileagePlus, said in a statement. “It’s not only going to revolutionize the experience of flying United, but it’s also going to unlock tons of new partnerships and benefits for our members that otherwise wouldn’t be possible.”
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Starlink access will be free for all customers who are part of the MileagePlus airline loyalty program. It will include “game-changing inflight entertainment experiences like streaming services, shopping, gaming and more,” United said.
United says its entire two-cabin regional fleet will be suited with the technology by the end of the year, as well as its “first mainline Starlink-enabled plane.”
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United Airlines Holdings Inc.
United originally announced signing a deal with Starlink back in September.
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.
Last spring, Carnival Corporation announced that all of its ships offer internet service via Starlink.
“Everything you can do on the ground, you’ll soon be able to do onboard a United plane at 35,000 feet, just about anywhere in the world,” United CEO Scott Kirby said in a previous statement.
“This connectivity opens the door for an even better inflight entertainment experience, in every seatback — more content, that’s more personalized,” Kirby added. “United’s culture of innovation is, once again, delivering big for our customers.”
FOX Business’ Breck Dumas and Reuters contributed to this report.
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