United Airlines is, once again, a partner in the T-Mobile inflight wifi program. The expanded relationship, first tipped two weeks ago, takes effect today. T-Mobile subscribers on eligible plans will receive access to the streaming level connectivity service on select domestic and short-haul international United flights.
This latest expansion of Coverage Beyond is all part of our goal to keep customers connected even outside the signal of our network, and we’re on a nonstop mission to find new ways to make that happen.
– Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile
Customers can access the free WiFi connection all flight long on four flights of their choice per year, with a free hour for every flight after that on Magenta, Business Unlimited Advanced and equivalent Sprint plans.
The offering covers the bulk of – but not the entirety – of United’s single aisle fleet. Passengers on the carrier’s 737s (-800, –900, –900ER), as well as select A319s and 757-300s will have access to the service. These aircraft all fly with satellite-based internet service delivered by Viasat or Thalys InFlyt.
The companies expect additional aircraft to join the promotion in the near future.
United Airlines controls the connection and pricing portal for its inflight internet solutions. This should, in theory, allow it to enable the service on the other aircraft relatively easily. But with different pricing contracts in place behind the scenes the complexity of the solution is always a bit more than it seems it should be.
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