Manchester United’s large-scale interstellar network Wi-Fi launch has just exploded.
Many of the initial regional jets already equipped with Starlink satellites have been shut down due to radio interference and the TPG can report specifically.
So far, Manchester United has installed Starlink on nearly two dozen Embraer E175 regional jets, and all flights operated by these jets have operated without an internet connection in the past few days.
As for why the planes are offline, the airline has received reports of radio interference between the VHF antennas used by pilots to communicate with air traffic controllers and Starlink antennas.
Specifically, the pilot has been reporting static on the broadcast line after completing radio transmission on an aircraft equipped with a new star-striped antenna.
Out of caution, Manchester United has shut down its All-Star link for its fleet and has since worked with Starlink to fix it.
In a statement confirming the exclusive report of TPG, a Manchester United spokesperson shared: “Starlink is now installed on approximately two dozen joint regional aircraft. The Federation and the Starlink team are working together to address a small number of reports of static interference during operation of the Wi-Fi system, which is quite common with any new agency we expect to provide for the service.”
This radio interference is not uncommon when new connectivity solutions are introduced on board aircraft, according to the Wing. The airline also reiterated that such interference does not constitute safety for flight problems.
In fact, when United launched the Viasat connection on a part of its mainline team, it also experienced similar interference and needed a quick fix.
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The good news is that Manchester United and Starlink have identified solutions to radio interference and they are actively working to push it out on affected aircraft.
So far, about one-third of the affected planes have received fixes and are flying again using high-speed satellite Wi-Fi, while the remaining aircraft will be reconnected after the app.
United will not evacuate the aircraft from the service to apply these fixes; instead, it will wait until the affected plane rotates through regularly scheduled maintenance access to apply changes. (In this way, Manchester United does not need to cancel any flights to resolve the interference.)
The Wing currently plans to restart Starlink for affected aircraft in the next few weeks, but be aware that this schedule may slide. Of course, this disruption will affect hundreds of summer flyers that may be excited about trying Starlink at Manchester United.
So far, Manchester United has specially installed Starlink on Embraer’s E175 regional jets, and this disruption problem has not slowed down the carrier’s plan to roll out.
The airline will reconfigure 40 E175 jets this month and then start the same operation on its CRJ-550 area jets in the next few weeks.
The airline still plans to fully reconfigure its entire dual-stage joint express regional jet fleet (CRJ-550 and E175 aircraft families) by the end of this year.
Last fall, Manchester United announced that it would transform its entire fleet with high-speed star-stripe connectivity. The best part is that the connection is free. All you need is a MileagePlus account that can access the Internet on as many devices as possible.
Related: Plans to bring free Starlink Wi-Fi to every flight within United Airlines
In mid-May, Manchester United took the first revenue flight on Starlink, one of the best satellite internet solutions since Bombshell announced it would offer its entire fleet for about nine months.
Hopefully this disruption problem is just a small obstacle on the road to the Stars and Stripes link facilities, as Manchester United’s existing Wi-Fi solutions are too upgraded.
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