Hawaiian Airlines, the first major American airline provided the satellite-based system on board commercial flightsis transforming the in-flight experience with the launch of free Wi-Fi services powered by SpaceX’s Starlink.
This move marks a major step forward in the aviation industry’s efforts to provide customers with high-speed connectivity in flight. Free Wi-Fi is currently available on JetBlue Airways, and last year Delta Air Lines gave its loyalty program members free Internet access.
The airline has an extensive network of routes that cross the Pacific Ocean and connect cities on the mainland and Hawaii to international locations such as Japan, Australia and New Zealand. With the recent installation of Wi-Fi powered by Starlink, travelers can take advantage of enhanced onboard amenities.
It really seems like something that shouldn’t be conceivable when boarding a commercial aircraft, said Vice President of Starlink Business Operations at SpaceX Chad Gibbs.
“We have a different paradigm now, which is that we have incredible amounts of capacity and bandwidth that we can bring to the aircraft,” he added.
Hawaiian and SpaceX collaborated for the first time after the latter signed an agreement in April 2022. Previously, Hawaiian did not offer Wi-Fi on board. The idea was to use the Starlink network, which consists of more than 5,000 satellites in low Earth orbit and currently provides internet access to more than 2.3 million people worldwide, to provide reliable in-flight Wi-Fi.
although the value of the deal and the cost of installing aviation-specific Starlink terminals in Hawaiian Airlines’ aircraft fleet have not been publicly disclosed by either company, they did point out that costs have dropped from those of early Wi-Fi systems.
Hawaiian Airlines CEO Peter Ingram underscored the potentially game-changing impact of offering Starlink-powered Wi-Fi on flights, saying: “we think it’s really going to set a whole new standard for aircraft connectivity.”
What it’s like to use SpaceX’s broadband for onboard Wi-Fi?
JSX introduced free Starlink Wi-Fi, becoming the first US airline to offer SpaceX’s high-speed internet on flights and pcmag.com tested it.
A test flight demonstrated the service’s impressive performance, delivering speeds comparable to 4G and 5G, with significant improvements in connectivity.
Speed tests showed an average download speed of 126 Mbps. The service, which operates via SpaceX’s low-orbit satellite constellation, promises a seamless experience for passengers and marks a significant upgrade over traditional geostationary satellite Wi-Fi systems. These advances indicate a promising future for in-flight Internet services.
