United has announced the acceleration of its rollout of Starlink Wi-Fi for MileagePlus members as United flight 14 departs Newark/New York for London aboard a Boeing 777-200.
The journey marks the airline’s first transatlantic widebody customer flight equipped with the fast Wi-Fi solution, and the first of almost 60 United widebody aircraft expected to operate with Starlink this year.
United will utilise Starlink’s low-Earth orbit satellites in order to deliver reliable internet across the world, including when flying over oceans, polar regions and other remote locations previously unreachable by either traditional mobile phone or Wi-Fi signals.
Currently, over 400 United planes utilise Starlink technology, with a almost 1,000 aircraft set to be fitted before the end of the year.
Travellers will be able to make use of the technology on a range of enabled 777-200 aircraft operating on routes between United’s hub airports in Newark/New York, Washington D.C, Houston and San Francisco and popular international destinations like London, Frankfurt, Zurich, Paris, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, Tokyo and more.
David Kinzelman, United's Chief Customer Officer, said:United is changing what it means to stay connected on an overseas flight.
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; the airline has flown over 18.6 million passengers on Starlink-equipped aircraft across more than 311,000 flights, powering 9.9 million devices.
Free for United MileagePlus members; users can utilise the service to enjoy video games, browse online shops, carry out real-time work and experience multi-device connectivity.
