More than five months after Southwest Airlines announced that it had signed a deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to offer ultra-fast Starlink internet across its massive fleet of more than 800 Boeing 737s, the first plane with the service has finally taken flight.
The milestone was reached on Monday when Southwest flight WN-3660 departed Dallas bound for Albuquerque. The first aircraft to be retrofitted with Starlink is an 8-year-old Boeing 737-800 (registration: N8543Z).
“Starting with this first aircraft, we will be rapidly integrating Starlink into our fleet this year,” commented Tony Roach, Southwest’s chief customer and brand officer. “This ultra-fast WiFi brings an at-home experience to the air and redefines how Customers can stay connected, be productive, and make the most of their time while flying at 35,000 feet.”
Starlink utilises what is known as a ‘constellation’ of low-earth orbit satellites to provide ultra-fast, low-latency Wi-Fi, which is significantly faster and more reliable than legacy in-flight internet services.
Although it has taken Southwest around five months since announcing its partnership with Starlink to get the first plane retrofitted, the rollout is expected to pick up speed very quickly. In fact, by the end of 2026, Southwest hopes to have installed Starlink on around 300 of its aircraft.
When airlines sign up for Starlink, the company normally adds certain conditions to make it as easy as possible for passengers to enjoy the service. In the case of traditional full-service airlines, that typically means requiring airlines to offer one-click access for all passengers.
For Southwest, however, Starlink has permitted the airline to restrict Starlink to members of its Rapid Rewards frequent flyer program. Passengers who aren’t already members will, however, be able to sign up via the Starlink log-in page, effectively opening up free access to all Southwest passengers.
During the rollout, Southwest will continue to offer free in-flight Wi-Fi to passengers on aircraft equipped with legacy internet services, although speed and reliability are constant bugbears for passengers trying to access the internet on these aircraft.
Also on Monday, United Airlines operated its first Starlink-enabled flight on a Boeing 777 widebody after flight UA-14 to London Heathrow departed Newark at around 9 pm on June 22. United plans to have Starlink on more than 1,000 airplanes by the end of this year, with around 60 widebody aircraft equipped with Starlink by the start of 2027.
Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines have also signed deals with Starlink for fleet-wide rollouts, while American Airlines only currently plans to install Starlink on around 500 single-aisle Airbus aircraft beginning in early 2027. The remainder of its fleet will be stuck with much slower legacy systems for the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines and JetBlue have opted for the rival Amazon Leo satellite internet service. There is, however, one major issue: Amazon Leo still needs to fire hundreds more low-earth orbit satellites into space before the service is operational, and that process isn’t expected to be complete until mid-2027 at the earliest.
Delta intends to start its Amazon Leo rollout as soon as it is operational, although the Atlanta-based carrier has taken serious flak over the decision.
