United Airlines has carried its fast, free Starlink wi-fi across the Atlantic for the first time, marking a significant step in the carrier’s race to wire up its entire long-haul fleet.
United flight 14 departed Newark/New York for London last night aboard a Boeing 777-200, the airline’s first transatlantic widebody customer flight fitted with Starlink’s low-Earth orbit broadband. It is the first of nearly 60 United widebody aircraft expected to carry the technology this year, with the airline aiming to have its entire widebody fleet connected by next summer.
As the world’s largest carrier across both the Atlantic and the Pacific, United will lean on Starlink’s satellite network to deliver reliable internet around the globe, including over oceans, polar regions and other remote stretches that traditional cell or wi-fi signals cannot reach. More than 400 United aircraft already fly with Starlink, and the airline expects to fit close to 1,000 aircraft before the end of the year.
Business travellers can expect to see Starlink-enabled 777-200s on routes linking United’s hubs in Newark/New York, Washington D.C., Houston and San Francisco with popular international destinations including London, Frankfurt, Zurich, Paris, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires and Tokyo.
“United is changing what it means to stay connected on an overseas flight,” said David Kinzelman, United’s Chief Customer Officer. “Starlink offers the same fast, reliable internet access and connectivity we’re all used to at home, delivered in the air at 35,000 feet, flying anywhere around the world. This technology has the potential to transform how we think about the inflight experience for both our customers and our employees.”
Since launching Starlink wi-fi last spring, United has flown more than 18.6 million passengers on Starlink-equipped aircraft across over 311,000 flights, powering 9.9 million devices. Wi-fi customer satisfaction scores on those aircraft nearly doubled over the same period. The pace builds on the carrier’s earlier milestone, when it scheduled its first Starlink-equipped mainline flight for take-off in 2025.
“Our ability to deploy Starlink wi-fi across our fleet at this speed and scale is a testament to the expertise of our team and the strength of our collaboration with Starlink,” said Ankit Gupta, United’s Chief Air Operations Officer. “Together, we’ve built a highly efficient installation programme that is transforming the onboard experience for our customers. With Starlink expected on close to 1,000 aircraft by year-end, we’re moving quickly to bring fast, reliable connectivity to more travellers than ever before.”
The connectivity push runs alongside an aggressive expansion of the carrier’s fleet, with United adding more than 250 planes over the next two years, more than any other airline.
United now has more than 167,000 seatback screens across nearly 900 aircraft and plans to roughly double that number as it takes delivery of hundreds of new jets and retrofits existing ones. Paired with Starlink, the carrier says the combination delivers faster, more seamless access to content and digital services, with performance that feels closer to home broadband than traditional inflight wi-fi.
MileagePlus members on Starlink-enabled aircraft can expect to game in real time, stream gameplay and stay connected to gaming platforms; browse, shop, schedule grocery deliveries and book restaurant reservations from their seat; upload, download and edit shared work documents without interruption; and connect phone, tablet, laptop and seatback screen at once without major slowdowns.
The move sharpens the competitive picture on transatlantic routes, where British Airways has also committed to free high-speed Starlink wi-fi across its fleet from next year. With both carriers chasing the same connected-cabin promise, the London corridor is fast becoming the proving ground for satellite broadband at altitude, as industry coverage of United’s first widebody crossing underlines.
