First commercial flight with Starlink service
now expected by spring, entire two-cabin regional fleet is
outfitted by end of 2025 and first mainline plane expected
to fly before end of year
Access will be free for all
MileagePlus® customers and includes game-changing
inflight entertainment experiences like streaming services,
shopping, gaming and more
Sign-up for United's award-winning loyalty
program for free now at united.com/starlink
LAS
VEGAS, Jan. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- United
Airlines today announced an accelerated timeline to
bring Starlink – the world's fastest, most reliable
connectivity in the sky – to United travelers around the world.
The airline now expects to begin testing Starlink next month
with the first commercial flight anticipated to take off this
spring on a United Embraer E-175 aircraft.
United now plans to outfit its entire two-cabin regional fleet by
the end of this year and have its first mainline Starlink-enabled
plane in the air before the end of this year.
Ultimately, United will add Starlink to its entire fleet.
Access will be free for all MileagePlus customers and includes
game-changing inflight entertainment experiences like streaming
services, shopping, gaming and more. Membership to MileagePlus
is also free and people can sign-up now at united.com/starlink.
"We have a lot planned for our MileagePlus members this year and
adding Starlink to as many planes as we can – as quickly as we can
– is at the center of it all," said Richard
Nunn, CEO of United MileagePlus. "It's not only going to
revolutionize the experience of flying United, but it's also going
to unlock tons of new partnerships and benefits for our members
that otherwise wouldn't be possible."
Last September, United signed the industry's largest agreement
of its kind with SpaceX to bring Starlink to its entire fleet. And
starting in a few months, the airline's customers will enjoy the
same high-speed, low-latency internet service in the air that they
enjoy on the ground. This gate-to-gate connectivity will enable
experiences in the sky at scale that no other major U.S. airline
provides, on seatback screens and personal devices
simultaneously.
MileagePlus was recently rated the world's best airline loyalty
program and includes the following features:
- Free to join, for all customers
- Free to earn miles
- Miles never expire
- No blackout dates for award seats – if there's a seat open you
can buy it with miles
- Just about anything you can pay for with cash at United, you
can buy with miles (seats, wifi, snacks, etc.)
- And United became the first major U.S. airline to allow members
of its loyalty program to pool their miles with family and friends
into a joint account.
On an average day, about 31,000 United seats are filled by
MileagePlus customers using their miles – that's the same as
filling about 100 Boeing 777 aircraft. During the summer of 2024,
more than three million MileagePlus customers flew on award
tickets.
About United
At United, Good Leads The Way. With U.S. hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los
Angeles, New
York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., United operates the most
comprehensive global route network among North American carriers
and is now the largest airline in the world as measured by
available seat miles. For more about how to join the United team,
please visit www.united.com/careers and more information about the
company is at www.united.com. United Airlines Holdings, Inc., the
parent company of United Airlines, Inc., is traded on the Nasdaq
under the symbol "UAL".
About Starlink
Starlink delivers high-speed, low-latency internet to users all
over the world. As the world's first and largest satellite
constellation using a low Earth orbit, Starlink delivers broadband
internet capable of supporting streaming, online gaming, video
calls and more. Starlink is engineered and operated by
SpaceX. As the world's leading provider of launch services, SpaceX
is leveraging its deep experience with both spacecraft and on-orbit
operations to deploy the world's most advanced broadband internet
system.
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SOURCE United Airlines
