United Airlines MileagePlus members can now use Starlink Wi-Fi for free on select flights, said United Chief Customer Officer David Kinzelman, who traveled to Guam to make the announcement Tuesday.
According to United, the Guam-based Boeing 737 Max 8 fleet is among the first of the airline’s Max 8 aircraft to offer the service. Starlink is already active on two aircraft in the Guam-based fleet. This follows the completion of the transition to the newer Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft ahead of schedule.
“For me, this brings together two of the biggest investments we're making for our customers first newer aircraft and now a completely different in-flight connectivity experience. We've called Starlink a game changer for our customers because it fundamentally changes what you can do while you're in the air,” Kinzelman said.
On flights with Starlink available, United travelers can connect multiple devices at once to stream entertainment, work, browse the internet or message family. However, voice and video calls are prohibited under Federal Aviation Administration regulations.
Airplane mode can still be activated while using Starlink on the aircraft.
“This is what is amazing about Starlink is you traditionally you actually don't get into service until you're 10,000 feet with traditional Wi-Fi. This one is gate to gate. So, from the moment you sit down as soon as the captain turns on Starlink,” Kinzelman said.
Starlink is not available to those who are not MileagePlus members, but signing up for a MileagePlus membership is free.
“And you get credit for the miles that you're traveling on the flight,” Kinzelman said.
“There's an easy link to be able to get one.”
According to Kinzelman, Starlink provides in-flight connectivity where it has “historically been extremely challenging,” but it also provides other benefits.
“Reliable connectivity also gives our pilots and flight crew another powerful tool to use while they're operating those flights with internet connectivity on board our crews can have access to web based information and resources that weren't available or at least much more difficult to access while the aircraft was in flight,” he said.
That includes real-time weather information, forecasts and turbulence reports from other aircraft. It can also make it easier to communicate with operations and dispatch teams and other United resources when circumstances change during a flight or during irregular operations.
“It can help our teams exchange information and coordinate more efficiently. That's valuable anywhere in our network, but it's particularly meaningful in this part of the world when you're flying between remote islands across the Pacific,” Kinzelman said.
For example, connectivity could be useful during an in-flight emergency.
“On board connectivity can provide our crews with another way to communicate to the appropriate company or medical resources and access information where they need it. Starlink doesn't replace the system or procedures that our crews already rely on, but what it does is give them another highly capable communications tool,” Kinzelman said.
He said that since rolling out the Starlink initiative last spring, more than 36 million customers have flown on Starlink-equipped United aircraft across 527,000 flights, and the service has connected 14.4 million devices.
“Wi-Fi customer satisfaction scores on the aircraft are nearly double,” Kinzelman said.
Currently, 50% of United’s daily flights are Starlink-equipped. Kinzelman said the target is to complete installations across the entire fleet before the end of 2027.
According to Kinzelman, the Boeing 737 Max 8 is designed to serve Guam and the surrounding communities.
“They're ... configured specifically with the needs of this region in mind including the ability to convert the front row seats of economy when necessary to accommodate medical stretchers or for patients requiring medivac transportation,” Kinzelman said.