Photo: Wenjie Zheng/Shutterstock

200 United Airlines Planes Will Have Free Internet by the End of 2025

Airports + Flying
by Morgane Croissant Jan 6, 2025

In September 2024, United Airlines announced that it was partnering with Starlink to bring free Wi-Fi to all of its planes, with testing starting in 2025. But only six days into the new year, the airline released an update: The first Starlink-equipped commercial flight will take off this spring on a regional jet — well ahead of schedule.

While the airline will eventually add Starlink to its entire fleet, which consists of more than 1,000 aircrafts, United will first outfit every single one of its two-cabin regional planes. Around 200 regional planes, i.e. 20 percent of the fleet, will have free internet by the end of 2025.

All of United Airlines’ regional jets fly under the airlines’ livery but are operated by partner airlines such as CommuteAir, GoJet Airlines, Mesa Airlines, Republic Airways, and SkyWest Airlines. United Airlines’ regional jets can carry between 50 and 76 passengers only.

To access the free Wi-Fi on board one of United’s regional planes, all you’ll need to do is to sign up for free for the airline’s frequent flyer program, MileagePlus.

Currently, United Airlines charges $8, or 800 miles, for MileagePlus members, and $10 for everyone else, to access Wi-Fi on its domestic flights.

United Airlines promises that the in-flight connectivity will be fast and reliable, allowing passengers to access work documents, use streaming services, shop, play games, and more on their personal devices and on their seatback screens. The airline also promises to roll-out seatback screen for every seat.

Discover Matador

Save Bookmark

We use cookies for analytics tracking and advertising from our partners.

For more information read our privacy policy.