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United Airlines has “resolved” the problem that led the carrier to turn off brand-new Starlink Wi-Fi systems on regional jets last month, executives said Thursday.
That’s great news for passengers hoping to use its fastest inflight internet yet, which is free for MileagePlus members.
In early June, TPG was first to report that the Chicago-based carrier had to disable its Starlink service after pilots reported static interference on channels they use to communicate with air traffic control. This problem occurred on some of the first United Express jets to get the Wi-Fi upgrade.
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It was an unexpected hurdle in an ambitious rollout of the high-tech internet service, for which United had accelerated the timeline.
United executives shared three encouraging updates on Thursday.
The first update was that the problem has “pretty much been resolved,” United’s chief operations officer Toby Enqvist said on the company’s second-quarter earnings call.
The second: United doesn’t expect to encounter similar delays on its larger planes.
The problem, Enqvist said, was that the antennas used by Starlink and the flight deck were too close together on the smaller regional jets that were first to get the new service
“They worked around that … and we think that the issue’s behind us,” Enqvist added. “And, again, for the other fleet types, because the airplanes that we’re going to put them on are much larger, we won’t have the issue.”
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Finally, United announced that 60 of its planes are currently flying with the new Starlink service. So, the chances keep getting better that you’ll have access to fast and free connectivity if you’re on a United Express regional flight.
I tried out the Starlink service on a special media flight in May and found it to be high-quality enough that I could accomplish anything I needed to inflight, from streaming a sports game to watching a YouTube video to working (including all at the same time).
Last year, United said it would update its entire fleet with the new service, accelerating a wave of airlines pivoting to higher-caliber (and free) inflight Wi-Fi.
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