Travelers on select United Airlines regional planes might notice a temporary lack of Wi-Fi on their next flight.
The Chicago-based carrier has had to pause new Starlink service on a small number of its regional jets due to static interference caused by recently installed Wi-Fi antennas. The issue is not a safety concern, according to United, and it’s not unusual for static to occur when new Wi-Fi equipment is installed.
“United and Starlink teams are working together to address a small number of reports of static interference during the operation of the Wi-Fi system, which is fairly common with any new airline Wi-Fi provider," the airline told USA Today. "We expect the service to be back up and running on these aircraft soon.”
With Starlink Wi-Fi, passengers will have free high-speed connectivity from gate to gate. The in-flight network is so strong that fliers are even able to stream content to their personal devices while in mid-air.
"It's not only going to revolutionize the experience of flying United, but it's also going to unlock tons of new partnerships and benefits for our members that otherwise wouldn't be possible," Richard Nunn, CEO of United MileagePlus loyalty program, said in January. The carrier recently launched a new in-flight entertainment partnership with Spotify, noting that customers on Starlink-enabled flights could also stream music, audio books, and podcasts directly from the Spotify app on their mobile device, the same way they do at home.
United’s first Starlink-equipped flight launched on May 6. Since that date, the airline says it has installed the ultra-fast Wi-Fi across about two dozen regional aircraft.
United aims to have its full fleet of regional jets equipped with Starlink by the end of the year and to have the high-speed Wi-Fi service up and running on its first mainline aircraft before 2026.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
