United has announced that the FAA has certified its first mainline Starlink-equipped aircraft, with the first commercial flight now planned for 15 October.
Certification comes following the launch of the first Starlink-equipped United customer flight on the Embraer 175 regional aircraft in May and under a year since the operator signed the industry’s largest agreement of its kind with SpaceX, bringing Starlink’s Wi-Fi service to Mileageplus members on both its mainline and regional aircraft fleet.
The FAA has now approved Starlink’s Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) amendment for the Boeing 737-800 to now include United’s fleet.
United has now installed Starlink on over half of its aircraft in its regional fleet.
Grant Milstead, United's Vice President of Digital Technology, said:Customers are loving the Starlink experience onboard our regional aircraft, and our first Starlink-equipped mainline aircraft will bring a superior inflight experience to even more people.
We're working to install Starlink and offer game-changing inflight entertainment experiences like streaming services, shopping, gaming and more.
Starlink has stated it will continue to secure an FAA STC to install services on every United aircraft type receiving the new equipment.
