Just missed: United also switches all connected fleet to Starlink by 2027

If until yesterday in-flight Wi-Fi was "that service that when it's good you upload an email," today United Airlines is trying to turn it into a thing really usable: has just reported that it has completed the installation of Starlink on more than 300 regional aircraft two-cabin (the ones that do so many feeder routes in the U.S.), in less than a year.

The numbers United flaunts are the "okay, this isn't a demo" kind: in the past 10 months it would have brought more than 7 million passengers on flights with Starlink, on 129,000 flights, with 3.7 million devices connected; and especially the satisfaction scores on in-flight Wi-Fi, on these planes, would be almost doubled.

Today Starlink is already on over 25% of daily departures of United (approx. 1,200 flights per day). The next step is the big one: the stated goal is to get to more than 500 mainline aircraft (so not just regional) by the end of 2026, for a total of over 800 aircraft With Starlink in the fleet.

And because in America if you want to get something across you put it in the most-watched commercial of the year, United chose the "Big Game": the February 8, 2026, during Super Bowl LX, will air a commercial built on the concept "at 30,000 feet you can do things that used to be science fiction," like live streaming, online gaming and company, with "ground control" style voiceovers.

Nerdy (but important) note: To really bring it to so many different models, United says it will also work on approvals and certifications with the FAA for multiple aircraft families (737, A321, 777 among those mentioned).

Translated into TFC language: if you fly United in the U.S., especially on "short but critical" routes operated by regional with two cabs, Wi-Fi might stop being a jackpot. And if they keep the timing on the mainline, 2026 is likely to become the year when they connect in flight stops being a promise and becomes a normality.

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