What happened
United Airlines announced an acceleration in its fleetwide installation of free Starlink Wi-Fi, now expecting to have the service on 1,000 aircraft by the end of 2026, up from a previous estimate of 800 by year-end and originally planned for 2027. The service is complimentary for MileagePlus members and offers gate-to-gate high-speed broadband. Currently, over 400 planes have the system, with recent expansions to Airbus A320-family, Boeing 737, and wide-body aircraft, including the first Boeing 777 flight. United aims to have 60 wide-body aircraft equipped by year-end and all wide-bodies by summer 2026. The faster rollout is attributed to quicker FAA Supplemental Type Certification processes and an average installation time of eight hours per plane