American expands Starlink Wi-Fi plans, will now equip its entire mainline fleet

American Airlines now plans to put Starlink Wi-Fi on way more planes than it had previously announced.

Each of American’s Airbus and Boeing jets are now slated to get the high-speed on-board internet, the Fort Worth-based carrier announced Thursday.

That’s more than double the number of aircraft that had previously been in line for a Starlink upgrade.

Installations are set to begin in early 2027.

Connectivity is expected to remain free for members of the airline’s AAdvantage loyalty program.

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From 500 planes to more than 1,000

American had first announced plans to bring Starlink to its fleet in May. But initially, the carrier had only planned to equip about 500 Airbus jets.

Now, the carrier says it will install the terminals on each of its mainline planes, including its vast fleet of Boeing planes.

Critically, this Starlink switchover should significantly improve American’s Wi-Fi on its twin-aisle fleet of Boeing 787s and 777s that fly long international routes. Many of those aircraft today still have legacy service from Panasonic, and often encounter connectivity gaps.

Once all installations are complete, more than 1,000 AA jets are expected to have the faster service.

“Our customers have told us that dependable connectivity can make a meaningful difference in how they spend their time in the air,” American’s chief customer officer Heather Garboden said in a statement Thursday, while noting the Starlink service also “provides the foundation for future innovations” on board.

Airlines lean in to Starlink

A growing number of U.S. carriers have struck up on-board Wi-Fi partnerships with SpaceX’s Starlink, which is powered by constellations of satellites in low earth orbit.

United Airlines and Alaska Airlines are well into installing Starlink tech on their planes. Hawaiian Airlines has had the service on its Airbus fleet for several years.

And so far in 2026, American, Southwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines have all announced plans to put Starlink on their jets.

Delta Air Lines, meanwhile, has opted to partner with Amazon on new Wi-Fi tech that’s expected to debut in 2028 — a move that prompted United, last week, to offer a pointed status match aimed at Delta’s Medallion elite members.

JetBlue is also taking the same route as Delta, with plans to put Amazon Leo on its jets in the future.

Bottom line

As for American, after this week’s announcement, there’s only one group of planes not slated to get Starlink servce: its fleet of regional jets.

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Source: thepointsguy.com