Credit: American Airlines/X
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom says the airline is staying with Starlink for in-flight Wi-Fi, telling Squawk Box on Thursday that customers demand connectivity and that SpaceX’s service is the best product available (via CNBC).
Isom was asked whether American is comfortable doing business with Starlink after The Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk ordered a slowdown of the service used by Ukraine’s military. He didn’t address the report directly and pointed to what passengers want instead. “American has always been the leader in satellite Wi-Fi. We’ve had more aircraft equipped with satellite Wi-Fi than anybody for longer,” he said. “As we take a look forward, our customers, they want connectivity. They demand it. And this is something that we are going to make sure that our customers have the best product in the marketplace. And that means Starlink.”
Musk has disputed that he is behind the Ukraine limits. He wrote on X last week that Starshield, the military version of Starlink, is owned and controlled by the US government, and that any speed or usage limits are decided by the US military and ultimately the president.
The interview aired the same day American reported its third-quarter results, with record revenue of US$16.3 billion but an adjusted loss driven by a US$1.9 billion jump in fuel costs. Earlier in the conversation, Isom listed Starlink and seatback video among the customer experience investments he said are producing results as the airline works its way back to profitability.
On October 8, American said it would put Starlink on every jet in its mainline fleet, more than 1,000 Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies and widebodies, with installations starting in early 2027. That roughly doubled the commitment it made in May, when it picked Starlink for more than 500 Airbus aircraft.
United is further along with its own rollout, and CEO Scott Kirby told the same CNBC show a day earlier that Starlink is already pulling customers away from rival airlines. Kirby said United would have Starlink on half of its flights by the end of this week and expects to finish installing it by the end of next year.
Delta is now the holdout among the three biggest US carriers, having picked Amazon Leo for hundreds of jets starting in 2028. With American and United both betting their fleets on Starlink, do you think Delta will end up rethinking that choice?
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