United has announced that the FAA has certified its first mainline Starlink-equipped aircraft, and the first commercial flight is planned for October 15th.

This certification comes five months since the first Starlink-equipped United customer flight on the Embraer 175 regional aircraft and less than a year since United signed the industry’s largest agreement of its kind with SpaceX to bring Starlink’s Wi-Fi service free to MileagePlus members on the airline’s mainline and regional aircraft fleet.

The FAA approved Starlink’s Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) amendment for the Boeing 737-800 to include United’s fleet. United completed the equipment installation on its first mainline aircraft and expects the first Starlink-equipped mainline flight to be onboard a United Boeing 737-800 that will fly from Newark/New York on October 15th.

United’s first Starlink-equipped regional flight took place on a regional jet in May 2025, and the airline now has Starlink installed on more than half of the aircraft in its regional fleet. Initial customer scores on those flights have been noteworthy with 90 per cent of customers appreciating the ability to stream onboard with Starlink’s high-speed, easy-to-use and consistent connection.

“Customers are loving the Starlink experience onboard our regional aircraft, and our first Starlink-equipped mainline aircraft will bring a superior inflight experience to even more people,” said Grant Milstead, United’s Vice President of Digital Technology. “We’re working to install Starlink and offer game-changing inflight entertainment experiences like streaming services, shopping, gaming and more.”

Starlink continues to secure an FAA STC to install Starlink on every United aircraft type getting the new equipment – more than 16 total regional and mainline aircraft models.

The FAA certification process involves approval of the design, installation, testing and certification of the system to ensure safe and reliable operations. United unveiled the Starlink installation process earlier this year, underscoring the technical operations benefits associated with the equipment, including size and weight as well as the ease of install and maintenance.

Starlink is free for all MileagePlus customers and includes game-changing inflight entertainment experiences like streaming services, shopping, gaming and more, thanks to Wi-Fi speeds up to 250 megabits per second (Mbps).

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Categories: Articles, Broadband, Satellite

Tags: spacex, starlink, united