United’s first Starlink-equipped aircraft is now fully certified by the FAA. But the service is not yet active. The carrier intends to flip that switch in May.
“We know customers are going to love this experience, and we think it will give them yet another reason to choose United. “We’re working closely with Starlink and the FAA to finish installs on our regional fleet this year and bring the best inflight experience in the sky to more and more people.”
– Grant Milstead, United’s Vice President of Digital Technology
United’s E175s will be the first of 16 aircraft types to be fitted with the solution across the fleet. The company also anticipates a rapid rollout of the hardware, with roughly 40 regional jets converted each month from May through the end of the year. This will allow the carrier to fully migrate away from the legacy terrestrial service from Gogo (now provisioned via Intelsat). That network is expected to go offline in 2026.
Access to the inflight connection will be complimentary on board for MileagePlus members. While a capture portal to verify loyalty program membership now appears to be allowed, SpaceX seems to be sticking with its requirement that airlines allow passengers to use the service without any additional costs.
United first announced its Starlink plans in September 2024 (though they were rumored long prior to that).
As an amusing aside, the image United used in its release (I chose a different image) does not include the Starlink hardware installed on the plane. I have no idea why they’d choose that for news celebrating the installation and certification of that hardware.
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