How Starlink is Changing My (and Everyone Else's) Perceptions of Air Travel
I treat in-flight Wi-Fi the same way I treat hotel gym promises—there in theory, but best not to count on it. Whether it's the $30 charge for a half-hour of buffering or the moment you realize your plane has Wi-Fi "coverage" but not actual connectivity, in-flight wifi has come a long way (from nothing), but it still feels like a shot in the dark. Or it used to anyway, until Starlink happened.
Starlink—SpaceX’s constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites—has turned in-flight connectivity from a running joke into an industry benchmark. For me and everyone else, flying just became a lot better.
This is a BIG deal. Just twenty years ago, flying meant stepping into a completely unplugged space, disconnected from the world, and honestly, kind of peaceful. Even after “in-flight Wi-Fi” became a thing, most people would agree: it still felt like you were offline.
Until now.
Let’s break it down.
In this post:
The In-Flight Wi-Fi Redemption Arc
There’s a problem with traditional in-flight WiFi systems:
Air-to-ground networks, which operate by connecting to cell towers on the ground, with aircraft switching from tower to tower, are too inconsistent to be useful. They’re not available over the ocean for obvious reasons, and when transitioning between cell towers, you can say goodbye to any connection you may have had.
Meanwhile, traditional satellite-based systems use geostationary satellites flying 35,000 km in orbit, and their latency means even a single Google search can take you an hour.
That’s where Starlink comes in. Its fleet of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, positioned just 550 km above the Earth, delivers faster speeds, smoother connections, and coverage even across those dreaded transoceanic gaps.
I recently travelled on Hawaiian Airlines for my trip to Australia, and the internet speed is no joke. There’s almost no buffering, and I watched live tennis the whole time. Trust me when I say Starlink fulfills that promise of over 200 megabits, and for the Zoom age, it’s a dream come true for all the businessmen reading this.
From Premium Feature to Passenger Expectation
As I mentioned before, JSX and Hawaiian Airlines have already flipped the switch on Starlink in the US. Hawaiian’s even offering it for free on inter-island hops and long-haul routes, and it’s available on all their A330 and A321neo aircraft. Qatar’s successful rollout of their Starlink Boeing 777s has progressed into integrating it into their Airbus A350 aircraft.
This isn’t just a luxury-tier gimmick either. I know there are a lot of opinions on Musk, but I think we can all at least thank him for saving us some money while we watch our Netflix.
United Airlines is now rolling out Starlink across its entire two-cabin regional fleet. Starting with Embraer E-175s, they’re onboarding 40 planes a month. MileagePlus members get the service for free. What used to be the worst aircraft for connectivity are suddenly offering a better experience than many widebodies. Delta and American are feeling pressured, too, with Delta offering it for free to its loyal members on domestic flights. Meanwhile, American announced free Wi-Fi via AT&T for loyalty members by 2026,
Wi-Fi That Works Changes Everything
Reliable, high-speed in-flight connectivity changes how we travel. Suddenly, business travelers are no longer “off-grid” when they fly. You can start a conference call in JFK and end it somewhere over Reykjavik(yes, you're not supposed to take calls on planes, but more on this later). For remote workers, digital nomads, and anyone trying to stay tethered to real life, this is a game-changer.
And the psychological shift is real. I used to dread long-haul flights as dead time. Now, I kind of look forward to them. A few movies, a few work tasks, and a full inbox cleanup later, I arrive more relaxed, not less.
Even more transformative? How this connectivity is starting to ripple through the operations side of aviation: real-time telemetry, better weather rerouting, predictive maintenance, and cloud-based flight planning are all being utilized more. It’s not just going to be a convenience, it's a complete overhaul of flying as we know it.
To be fair, not every airline is onboard yet. Starlink rollout takes time, and there are setbacks. It takes about 4 days to install Starlink on a plane, and there are regulatory hurdles over sovereign airspaces.
But if I were betting on the future of air travel, I’d bet on low-latency, globally available, high-bandwidth internet.
The Bottom Line
For the first time in decades, air travel feels like it’s finally keeping up with the rest of the digital world.
Flying used to mean disconnecting. Now, it means choosing how connected you want to be. What used to be an overpriced frustration is now an onboard essential. And that shift isn’t just about better tech—it’s about a whole new set of expectations.
I wouldn’t have dreamed of calling in-flight Wi-Fi “reliable,” much less “essential,” a few years ago. Today? It’s hard to imagine flying without it.
