Southwest Airlines has been offering free in-flight Wi-Fi to passengers for less than three months. Now, the airline is planning a major upgrade to its internet technology.
The Dallas-based airline announced plans Wednesday to add Starlink satellite service to hundreds of its aircraft. By the end of the year, more than 300 Southwest aircraft are expected to offer the high-speed service, which will remain free for customers with a Rapid Rewards loyalty account.
High speed upgrade
Starlink may be the fastest in-flight internet on the market today. The setup, made up of more than 9,000 satellites orbiting the Earth, offers a fast browsing experience that’s reminiscent of surfing the Internet on the ground, a far cry from the frustrating early days of in-flight Wi-Fi.
“If you go back ten years, the thought of being able to have this type of Wi-Fi experience is pretty impressive,” Tony Roach, Southwest’s chief customer and brand officer, told TPG.
Across the industry, many of Southwest’s top competitors have upgraded their Wi-Fi technology forward This service is provided free of charge. But last fall, Southwest opted to supplement its existing service with connectivity after testing it and determining that upgrades made earlier this decade could support more customers logging in from 35,000 feet.
Roach said the carrier’s Wi-Fi network speeds haven’t significantly slowed down since offering free service.
“That’s not to say it’s bad,” he said of the transition to Starlink. “It’s more about unlocking anything that people want to do on a plane: 4K streaming, everything you want to upload, download – at the speeds you’re used to on the ground.”
Southwest Airlines plans to begin installing Starlink on aircraft this summer, focusing on aircraft using Anuvu’s legacy Wi-Fi technology. The company told TPG it has not yet decided whether to add satellite service on aircraft recently upgraded with California-based Viasat. Viasat is currently the inflight internet provider for Delta, American Airlines and JetBlue, among others.
Another major U.S. airline adopts Starlink
Southwest Airlines will become the fourth U.S. carrier to adopt Starlink for its Wi-Fi service.
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United Airlines is equipping its planes with the technology, and as of last month, nearly all of its two-cabin regional jets were equipped with it.
Hawaiian Airlines already offers the service on its Airbus aircraft, and sister airline Alaska Airlines (which will merge into Alaska Airlines Group in 2024) recently began installing satellites on its aircraft.
It’s worth noting that Southwest’s big announcement about inflight internet comes just weeks after the airline made some of the biggest changes in its history, including its long-planned move to assigned seating and the option of extra legroom. In the meantime, the airline appears to be considering other changes, such as lounges and more premium seats — although no such changes have been announced so far.
“This is another step to show customers that this is not the ‘old Southwest’ anymore,” Roach said of the Starlink plan. “I do think we want customers to see some shocking value. We’re raising the bar.”
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