Image: United Airlines
United Airlines is adding Starlink to about three aircraft a day and already has the service on 661 jets, CEO Scott Kirby said Tuesday, as the carrier races toward full-fleet coverage by the end of 2027.
Kirby spelled out the faster pace on the Cheeky Pint podcast with John Collison and Ben Thompson. He said Starlink is on 48% of United flights today and will reach 50% next week, after more than 5.4 million passengers used it in September alone.
The airline had planned to stop at roughly 65% of the fleet. Kirby said passenger feedback flipped that plan once the first Starlink jets entered service, including travelers who told him they were switching to regional flights just to get the connection. United then went all-in, with SpaceX helping push the installs.
Los Angeles is set to become United’s first hub with Starlink on every flight sometime in the first half of 2027. Kirby also said the United app will soon show the odds that a booked flight has Starlink, based on how many aircraft of each type are already equipped and how many the airline expects to finish by the travel date.
Calling the service the biggest competitive advantage in the industry, Kirby argued that free Wi-Fi was never the real pitch. Speed is, and he said rivals’ cabin internet still feels like dial-up next to Starlink. He also said United expects a few years as the only major U.S. airline with the service at scale, and that customers who try United for Starlink will stay for the rest of its tech stack.
Those comments build on what Kirby told CNBC last week, when he said United was already pulling flyers from other airlines and closing in on the halfway mark. United’s October 15 tracker update had counted more than 635 equipped aircraft covering nearly half of daily departures, so the 661 figure shows the install line is still moving every day.
Other carriers are not standing still. American Airlines has called Starlink the best product for its flyers and plans a mainline rollout. Delta has stuck with a different path, a choice Kirby labeled a mistake.
If United puts Starlink on every jet by late 2027, will that be enough to lock in your next booking?
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