SpaceX’s Starlink is providing free internet to passengers on Hawaiian Airlines. Hawaiian Airlines is launching complimentary Wi-Fi to its passengers on board commercial flights this week.
“SpaceX has really cracked the code – literally, in terms of the technology – to be able to deliver a wide bandwidth of very high-quality connectivity to an airplane with a global reach,” Hawaiian Airlines CEO Peter Ingram told CNBC.
Hawaiian Airlines is reportedly the first major US airline to offer satellite-based internet service to its passengers. The airline announced its collaboration with SpaceX’s Starlink last April. At the time, Ingram stated that Hawaiian Airlines waited until technology caught up with its high standards in guest experiences.
SpaceX officially launched Starlink Aviation in October 2022, with a few airlines already interested in the new production. Some airlines that have already talked to SpaceX about Starlink include Delta Airlines and Frontier Airlines. Starlink is already available on select Qatar Airways flights.
According to SpaceX, Starlink Aviation offers download speeds of 40-220+ MBPS and upload speeds between 8-25+ MBPS. It has a latency of less than 99 ms.
In March 2023, Starlink’s performance was tested on a JSX flight. Travel reporter and blogger Zach Griff from The Points Guy shared his review of Starlink while on a JSX flight and connected to five Apple products.
“Just flew on [JSX] with the new Spacex Starlink internet…and these are the fastest Wi-Fi speeds I’ve ever seen in the air,” said Griff in an X post.
If you have any tips, contact me at maria@teslarati.com or via X @Writer_01001101.
