United Airlines Shuts Down Starlink Access Amid Tech Issues

United Airlines’ plans to retrofit its entire regional fleet with Starlink connectivity have hit a roadblock, at least temporarily.

United first started rolling out Starlink access using a free-with-ads model in May, becoming one of a select club—including Hawaiian Airlines and the boutique air carrier JSX—to offer flyers SpaceX’s satellite broadband service. Its speed and performance proved a hit with PCMag reviewers when it debuted, and United announced plans to install Starlink in its entire two-cabin regional fleet by the end of 2025.

However, Starlink has been turned off on almost two dozen Embraer E175 regional jets, according to air industry publication The Points Guy. The issue stems from static interference between the antennas that pilots use to communicate with air traffic controllers and Starlink’s antennas.

United officially confirmed the reports in a statement, saying that this type of radio interference was “fairly common with any new airline Wi-Fi provider” and that the issues did not represent a flight safety risk.

“We expect the service to be back up and running on these aircraft soon,” said a United spokesperson.

According to the publication, though the recent issue is expected to impact thousands of flyers this summer, the disruption is not expected to last long, and roughly a third of the impacted planes have already had a fix applied.

United doesn’t expect to cancel any flights as a result of the issue and will instead wait until each aircraft’s scheduled maintenance to fix the interference issue.

Though Starlink may be off the table for many domestic fliers, at least in the short term, United has introduced new ways for travelers to distract themselves in recent weeks. The Chicago-based carrier announced earlier this week that it’s bringing the streaming-audio service Spotify to the on-demand entertainment displays of over 680 of its aircraft, offering “specially curated versions of Spotify’s most popular playlists.” The new Spotify integration will replace the “Audio” option on the home-screen menu of those displays.

About Will McCurdy

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I’m a reporter covering weekend news. Before joining PCMag in 2024, I picked up bylines in BBC News, The Guardian, The Times of London, The Daily Beast, Vice, Slate, Fast Company, The Evening Standard, The i, TechRadar, and Decrypt Media.

I’ve been a PC gamer since you had to install games from multiple CD-ROMs by hand. As a reporter, I’m passionate about the intersection of tech and human lives. I’ve covered everything from crypto scandals to the art world, as well as conspiracy theories, UK politics, and Russia and foreign affairs.

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