Three airlines have set out new satellite Wi-Fi plans with SpaceX's Starlink in recent weeks. American Airlines said on 8 October that it will bring Starlink to all of its mainline aircraft, with installations starting in early 20271. KLM announced on the same day that it will offer free Starlink Wi-Fi on intercontinental flights from mid-20272, and SWISS said its first Starlink-equipped aircraft would enter scheduled service on 28 September3. Delta Air Lines, which chose Amazon Leo in March, defended that decision on 9 October45.

American: the whole mainline fleet

American said the programme covers Airbus narrowbodies as well as Boeing narrowbodies and widebodies1. The airline lists its mainline fleet as more than 500 Airbus narrowbodies, more than 400 Boeing narrowbodies and more than 130 Boeing widebodies, over 1,030 aircraft in total1. The aircraft will use Starlink's Performance Aero Terminal, which American says "can deliver speeds of up to 1 Gbps per terminal"1. The plan extends the airline's announcement in May to install Starlink on more than 500 Airbus aircraft1. Chief Customer Officer Heather Garboden said customers had told the airline that "dependable connectivity can make a meaningful difference in how they spend their time in the air"1. The release gives no completion date and does not say whether passengers will pay for the service1.

KLM and SWISS: free for loyalty members

KLM said its intercontinental service will start in mid-2027, will be available in all cabin classes and will be rolled out in phases2. It will be free for Flying Blue members, and passengers who are not yet members can sign up before the flight or during it via the onboard portal2. "We are making a long-standing wish of our passengers a reality: fast, free Wi-Fi on intercontinental flights starting in mid-2027," chief executive Marjan Rintel said2. KLM has not said which aircraft types or routes will be equipped first. Since the beginning of this year the airline has offered free Wi-Fi on most of its European fleet2.

At SWISS, the first aircraft is the Airbus A320neo HB-JDM "Iseltwald", whose first Starlink flight was scheduled to operate as LX1852 from Zurich to Thessaloniki3. The service is free for Miles & More members and Travel ID users in all travel classes3. SWISS says it will soon equip three Airbus A320 family aircraft and expects the entire fleet to follow by the end of 20293. The product is being introduced across the Lufthansa Group as "Lufthansa Group Wi-Fi powered by Starlink"3. The group said in August that it plans to equip all of its approximately 850 aircraft by 2029, starting with a Lufthansa A320neo from 19 August6.

Delta's different choice

Delta picked Amazon Leo in March, with an initial installation on 500 aircraft beginning in 2028; Amazon says the Leo-powered Wi-Fi "will be free for all Delta SkyMiles members"5. Delta says Leo offers retail, Amazon Prime, video and gaming at a much lower price than Starlink, Fortune reports4. The choice became public friction in late September, when Elon Musk wrote on X that Bastian "will lose his job" over it, after an aviation account reported remarks Bastian allegedly made to employees; Fortune says those remarks have not been independently verified or confirmed by Delta4.

Speaking to CNBC on 9 October, as quoted by Fortune, chief executive Ed Bastian said of the dispute: "There's no tit for tat as far as I'm concerned."4 On SpaceX he added: "They just weren't ready to scale when we were ready to go, and we had disagreements on the business model in terms of access to the customer."4 He said customers on Delta's current Hughes and Viasat systems "are going to see meaningful improvements" by the end of this year4. Fortune reports that Elon Musk said in May that Delta wanted passengers to log in through its own portal, a claim Delta called inaccurate4.

Fortune notes that American's move leaves Delta as the only one of the three largest US carriers without Starlink4. United, which signed with Starlink in 2024, had more than 400 aircraft with the system in June and expected close to 1,000 by the end of this year, and according to Fortune the entire fleet by the end of 202747. In Europe, British Airways flew its first Starlink service on 19 March and says its entire fleet of more than 300 aircraft will have it within two years, excluding BA Cityflyer8. Virgin Atlantic, in which Delta is a shareholder, said in April that it plans 100% Starlink connectivity across its fleet in 2027, free for Flying Club members9.

What it means for crews

Most of these announcements concern passenger connectivity. British Airways is the exception: it says the same service will enable its cabin crew and flight crew "to communicate seamlessly in real time with colleagues on the ground"8. None of the airlines says whether pilots will use the links for flight deck applications such as electronic flight bags or weather updates1238. KLM's release does refer to crew: "From the moment passengers and crew step aboard, Starlink keeps them connected throughout the flight, anywhere in the world."2 United's Chief Customer Officer David Kinzelman said the technology "has the potential to transform how we think about the inflight experience for both our customers and our employees"7.

For cabin crew, the new service comes with rules to manage: SWISS asks passengers to use headphones, pay attention to crew announcements and respect the privacy of other passengers and crew, and voice and video calls are not permitted across the Lufthansa Group36. The group says these terms of use were developed based on passenger surveys6. Virgin Atlantic takes a different line and lists "even making brief audio calls" among the things customers can do9.