Tag Archives for wifi.
A Delta passenger endured a full-volume midnight Zoom call on a delayed flight—proof that America’s ban on in-flight calling punishes the wrong problem.
JetBlue is expected to announce a delay to equip some of its planes with Amazon wifi, as the launch airline for the product that’s supposed to be even faster than Starlink.
I’m really looking forward to these planes having functional wifi. It won’t be as good as the Starlink that United will be installing, and offering to passengers for free, but it will solve a pain point that’s kept me mostly off of them. However I’m going to have them even more off of my ‘do not fly’ list until the process is completed because the chance of no internet at all is even worse than slow internet.
Starlink has the fastest internet in the sky. It blows away Viasat and similar offerings that you’ll find on airlines like American and Delta. Bandwidth aside, their satellites are in lower orbit and the signal just has a shorter distance to travel. In my experience on board, it’s meant basically no latency. I can work in the air just like I do with a fiber connection on the ground.
United Airlines is adding free Starlink wifi to its planes over the coming years, with the first install expected in service next year. Based on experience with Hawaiian Airlines and JSX, it should be faster – and with far less latency – than competitors’ wifi.
Having seen Starlink perform first on JSX and more recently on Hawaiian I can say that it really is the best inflight wifi product by a lot. Beyond faster speeds, it just has very very low latency. The technical aspects of it are outside my area but signals just don’t have as far to travel with the satellites in low earth orbit. Installations can be done in a single overnight period.
Starting next year, American will install high speed internet in its two-cabin regional aircraft. That means Embraer E-175, Bombardier CR7 and CR9s. Their 50 seat Embraer E-145s will remain dark. The process is expected to take two years to complete.
Airline inflight wifi in the United States is converging around free, or for those carriers that charge the price generally hovers around $8 per flight. The exception to this is American Airlines, where connectivity for a single device on a flight can cost over $20.
Instead of paying per flight, I pay $49.95 per month covering a single device on their narrowbody aircraft (both ViaSat and Intelsat, formerly Gogo, equipment). American has just announced two new pricing options, and I’m confused?
American Airlines offers outstanding inflight WiFi service on its domestic fleet, though it does so while charging more money than any of its competitors. Delta, JetBlue, and JSX offer WiFi free, though it’s otherwise an $8 product – though frequently $20 for a flight at American.
The carrier’s international WiFi has been horrible, though.
JSX planes have StarLink internet which I’ve found to be crazy fast, with low latency. That’s not just great for checking email and web browsing. It also works for video conferencing. And they’re the first carrier certified by FAA to allow it.
So when you fly JSX you can use Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, or your other app of choice – to participate in a meeting at work, call home at dinner time or bed time, and to… annoy your fellow passengers?
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
