British Airways might have one of the most unreliable and frustrating customer-facing IT systems of any major airline in the world but, at the very least, you’ll soon be able to access it at lightening fast speeds at 38,000 feet.
And should you give up trying to get anything done on BA’s app or website, fear not, you’ll be able to stream your favourite show or play an online game with super fast gate-to-gate Wi-Fi.
And the best bit? It’s going to be free for all customers, on all aircraft and on multiple devices.
Yes, that’s right, British Airways has just become the latest airline to tap Elon Musk’s Starlink Internet service to provide its inflight Wi-Fi across its entire fleet.
Starlink uses a so-called constellation of low Earth orbit satellites to provide broadband quality, low latency internet to pretty much anywhere in the world (well, where it has been approved anyway).
Starlink is already in use at several major carriers, including United Airlines and Qatar Airways, and the real-world feedback has been phenomenal.
Passengers can access and use the Internet just like they would on the ground… stream films and shows, play video games, attend Zoom meetings and anything else they would normally have to wait to do when they were back on the ground.
British Airways, through its parent company IAG, had been actively looking at a rival Wi-Fi service from Amazon, although satellite launches only started earlier this year so it could take some time before it’s fully operational.
What’s remarkable about BA’s decision to go with Starlink is that this is an airline that still hasn’t installed Wi-Fi on all of its mainline widebody aircraft.
In other words… this could prove to be a game changing moment for the some men that has long promised £7 billion is customer improvements with little to show for it.
BA’s chief executive, Sean Doyle, commented on Thursday: “We’re continuing to focus on transforming our customer experience. Launching Starlink on both our long-haul and short-haul aircraft is game-changing for us and our customers, elevating their experience on board our flights by offering them seamless connectivity from gate-to-gate.”
Doyle added that Starlink on short haul services will “really differentiate us from our competitors.”
Starlink will progressively be added to BA’s fleet starting in 2026 and while the airline hasn’t yet offered a timeline for completion, the retrofit process for Starlink is a lot quicker than rival products.
