The largest international airline of the United States, United Airlines has announced that it will speed up the announced timelines for deployment of Starlink, a satellite-based connectivity service.

In a press statement, United says that it expects to have the first commercial flight equipped with Starlink by Spring of 2025 and plans to have entire two-cabin regional fleet outfitted with the service by end of 2025.

The airline says it expects to begin testing Starlink next month and the first commercial flight will be on a United Embraer E-175 aircraft. United says it plans to outfit its entire two-cabin regional fleet by the end of this year and have its first mainline Starlink-enabled plane in the air before the end of this year. Ultimately, United will add Starlink to its entire fleet.

The airline says that access to the service will be free for all members of its frequent flyer programme, MileagePlus, and includes game-changing inflight entertainment experiences like streaming services, shopping, gaming and more.

“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. It is not only going to revolutionise the experience of flying United, but it is also going to unlock tonnes of new partnerships and benefits for our members that otherwise wouldn’t be possible,” says Richard Nunn, CEO, United MileagePlus.

Richard Nunn

Last September, United signed the industry’s largest agreement of its kind with SpaceX, a space services company owned by controversial American billionaire Elon Musk, to bring Starlink to its entire fleet. And starting in a few months, the airline’s customers will enjoy the same high-speed, low-latency internet service in the air that they enjoy on the ground. This gate-to-gate connectivity will enable experiences in the sky at scale that no other major United States airline provides, on seatback screens and personal devices simultaneously.

United says that on an average day, about 31,000 United seats are filled by MileagePlus customers using their miles. During the summer of 2024, more than three million MileagePlus customers flew on award tickets.