United Airlines flight UA-14 from Newark to London Heathrow on Monday night will mark the first time that free, ultra-fast Starlink Wi-Fi has been made available on one of the carrier’s widebody long-haul aircraft.
Flight 14 is set to depart Newark at 7:05 pm on June 22 and arrive in London Heathrow the following morning at 7:15 am. Passengers will be able to access Starlink’s broadband-quality Wi-Fi service from gate-to-gate with one-click access across multiple devices.
United started its Starlink rollout in the Spring of 2025, and since then, more than 400 aircraft have already been equipped with the service. Initially, however, United focused on retrofitting its entire regional aircraft fleet and then its narrowbody aircraft.
Earlier this month, however, it was revealed that United had just completed the installation of Starlink on its first widebody aircraft – a 24-year-old Boeing 777-200 (registration: N37018).
The aircraft had been flown down to one of United’s biggest maintenance hangars in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 18, where it became the airline’s prototype aircraft for Starlink installation across its 777 fleet.
Presumably, the aircraft was also undergoing other routine maintenance before it returned from Rio on Sunday morning, heading to Newark, where it would be prepped ahead of Monday night’s inaugural flight with Starlink switched on.
Now that United has gotten to grips with how to install Starlink on a widebody plane, the airline plans to rapidly accelerate the rollout, with as many as 1,000 planes to be equipped with the internet service by the end of the year.
“Starlink offers the same fast, reliable internet access and connectivity we’re all used to at home, delivered in the air at 35,000 feet, flying anywhere around the world,” commented David Kinzelman, United’s chief customer officer.
“This technology has the potential to transform how we think about the in-flight experience for both our customers and our employees,” Kinzelman added.
By the end of 2025, United plans to install Starlink on 60 widebody aircraft, and the rollout should be completed across the entire long-haul fleet by Summer 2026. In comparison, British Airways has installed Starlink on just five aircraft since it began its rollout in March, and no more installations until after the Summer travel rush.
“Our ability to deploy Starlink Wi-Fi across our fleet at this speed and scale is a testament to the expertise of our team and the strength of our collaboration with Starlink,” explained Ankit Gupta, United’s Chief Air Operations Officer.
“With Starlink expected on close to 1,000 aircraft by year-end, we’re moving quickly to bring fast, reliable connectivity to more travelers than ever before.”
Given the size of United’s fleet, the rollout has been exceptionally fast. The airline has drawn up plans to equip more than one aircraft per day with the satellite internet service throughout 2026.
The core Starlink installation can be completed in as little as eight hours, which is around ten times faster than legacy Wi-Fi systems. The whole retrofit process does, however, take a little longer; around four days, even for smaller regional jets.
Widebody aircraft are more of a challenge, but other Starlink operators like Qatar Airways have shown that the rollout can still be done very quickly. In fact, Qatar Airways managed to install Starlink on more than half of its Boeing 777 fleet in just four months.
Starlink uses a so-called ‘constellation’ (a vast network) of low-earth orbit satellites to provide high-speed, low-latency internet access around the world. In many use cases, Starlink provides faster connection speeds than traditional wired home broadband.
United has pulled ahead of other airlines in offering fast and free in-flight Wi-Fi, especially American Airlines and Delta Air Lines.
American Airlines only intends to equip around 500 single-aisle Airbus aircraft with Starlink beginning in early 2027, representing just a third of its total mainline and regional fleet. Delta Air Lines, meanwhile, has selected the rival Amazon Leo satellite internet service, but that won’t be up and running until mid-2027 at the earliest.
Other operators of Starlink in the United States, including Alaska, Hawaiian Airlines, and Southwest Airlines.
