American Airlines to fit Boeing fleet with Starlink Wi-Fi

American Airlines is putting its Boeing fleet on Starlink, four months after it committed 500 aircraft to the inflight internet service. More than 500 additional planes will be fitted, the carrier said, which covers its entire mainline fleet.

The original announcement covered only the airline's Airbus single-aisle aircraft, leaving out Boeing planes, including those used on long-haul routes.

Most of the Boeing fleet flies with Viasat's Ka-band satellite service. Many wide-body aircraft were already being converted from an older Panasonic Avionics system to Viasat, a process that began in late 2025. It is not clear how many of those planes will still complete the Viasat conversion instead of moving directly to Starlink.

Installations start in early 2027, the same timing American gave for the original Airbus-only plan. The airline did not break the schedule down by fleet type.

Viasat is bringing its ViaSat-3 F2 and F3 satellites online, adding capacity for the aero mobility market. Executives have said the extra capacity should let airlines judge for themselves whether the updated service meets their needs, since existing onboard equipment and software already support it.