SpaceX · Starlink · 15 Oct 2026
Southwest is putting Starlink on every plane, and racing United to finish first
Southwest now says its entire fleet will fly with SpaceX’s satellite Wi-Fi by fall 2027. That sets up a straight race with United for the title of first big US airline to go all-Starlink, and it quietly rewrites the plan Southwest laid out only eight months ago.
Southwest Airlines will fit Starlink to every aircraft it flies. The commitment was tucked into a much bigger loyalty-program announcement the Dallas carrier released at 10:41am ET (7:41am PT) on Thursday.
The key line from Southwest is the deadline. The airline says it expects to complete a fleetwide rollout in fall 2027 and, in doing so, to become “the first major U.S. airline” to have Starlink on every plane. Wi-Fi stays free for Rapid Rewards members through Southwest’s existing T-Mobile sponsorship, and the service runs from takeoff to landing rather than switching on only at cruising altitude.
From 300 jets to the whole fleet
This is a real step up from where Southwest started. When it first announced Starlink on 11 February, the target was more than 300 aircraft by the end of 2026, with the first plane in service that summer. That first jet, a Boeing 737 with tail number N8543Z, carried passengers from Dallas to Albuquerque on 22 June.
Southwest flies more than 800 aircraft, all of them Boeing 737s (fleet size as reported by Upgraded Points). So the new plan roughly means equipping about 500 more jets in the year or so after the 300 mark. Southwest has not published how many aircraft carry Starlink today, so it is not yet possible to say whether the original 300-by-December goal is on track.
The quiet change: what happens to Viasat
In February, Southwest’s Starlink deal was framed as a replacement for one supplier, not all of them. Starlink was set to take over from Anuvu, the older Ku-band system on Southwest’s 737NG jets. Viasat, whose Ka-band satellite Wi-Fi has been factory-installed on Southwest’s new 737 MAX deliveries since 2023, was expected to stay. Southwest told Runway Girl Network at the time that Viasat’s kit would “remain in play” on fitted aircraft, and a William Blair analyst note said Starlink would not be installed on Viasat-equipped planes.
Thursday’s wording is different: Starlink is coming to the “entire fleet.” Southwest’s release does not spell out what happens to the Viasat hardware already flying. But “every plane” only adds up if the MAX jets switch too, which makes this a bigger win for SpaceX than the February deal, and a loss for a geostationary rival on one of America’s largest fleets. That reading is mine, based on the two announcements side by side, not something Southwest has stated in those words.
How the big US airlines compare
Here is where the four largest US carriers stand on low-orbit Wi-Fi, using each airline’s own figures:
- United: more than 635 Starlink aircraft as of Thursday, nearly half its daily departures, fitting about 20 planes a week, with the full fleet targeted for the end of 2027. Free for MileagePlus members. (United press release, 15 Oct 2026.)
- Southwest: first jet flying since 22 June, more than 300 targeted by the end of 2026, the full fleet targeted for fall 2027. Free for Rapid Rewards members via T-Mobile. (Southwest releases, 11 Feb and 15 Oct 2026.)
- American: committed to Starlink across a mainline fleet of more than 1,000 aircraft, with installations starting in early 2027. (American Airlines newsroom.)
- Delta: chose Amazon’s rival constellation, Amazon Leo, for an initial 500 aircraft, with installs from 2028. (Delta and Amazon announcements.)
Put plainly, three of the big four are now Starlink customers, and the two furthest along, United and Southwest, both say they will be done in 2027. United is far ahead on installed planes today. Southwest’s claim to finish first rests on “fall” arriving before United’s “end of 2027”, which is a margin of a few months on paper.
Why Southwest might actually win that race
Southwest has one big advantage: it flies a single aircraft family. Every jet is a 737, so one installation design, one set of certification paperwork and one routine for maintenance crews covers the whole fleet. United has to fit everything from regional jets to long-haul widebodies. Southwest also has recent form for fast fleet-wide changes, having reworked cabins across its network for its new extra-legroom seating on a tight schedule. None of that guarantees the date, and Southwest’s own release flags that its plans depend on suppliers and on Boeing, but it is why a later starter can credibly talk about finishing first.
What passengers notice
Older airline Wi-Fi, including the geostationary systems Southwest is moving away from, bounces signals off satellites roughly 36,000 km up, which adds a delay to every page load and makes video calls stutter. Starlink’s satellites orbit a few hundred kilometers up, so the round trip is far shorter. That lower latency, more than headline speed, is what makes streaming and calls feel like being on the ground. Speeds are shared by everyone on board and will vary by flight.
What to watch next
The first test is the end of 2026: whether Southwest reaches its 300-plane goal, and whether it starts publishing progress the way United now does with its public flight tracker. The second is any word on retrofitting the Viasat-equipped MAX jets, which will show how literally “entire fleet” should be read. And for SpaceX, it is another big US fleet on a list that keeps growing while Amazon’s airline effort is still years from its first install.
Sources: Southwest Airlines press release via PR Newswire, 15 Oct 2026, 10:41am ET; Southwest Airlines press release, 11 Feb 2026; Southwest newsroom, 23 Jun 2026; Runway Girl Network, Via Satellite and PaxEx.Aero, Feb 2026; United Airlines press release, 15 Oct 2026; American Airlines newsroom; Delta and Amazon announcements on Amazon Leo; image by Starlink (@Starlink).
Airline Wi-Fi used to be something you put up with. Now airlines are racing to be first with Starlink on every single plane.
— @AlJR86
