Internet service on US airlines is about to get a lot better

A spate of new in-flight connection deals in recent weeks, including the first aircraft contracts signed by SpaceX’s Starlink satellite unit, aim to make high-speed Wi-Fi less glitch-free over the next three years on most domestic flights operated by major US carriers. The latest in-flight deal came Wednesday when Southwest said it would add a second Wi-Fi provider, Viasat Inc., for faster speeds on more than 400 new Boeing Co. 737 Max aircraft. Airlines are racing to offer improved connection speeds and reliability as post-pandemic competition for travelers has stepped up, particularly for high-revenue premium passengers. With expanded satellite bandwidth, the airlines’ goal is to replicate the same internet experience in-flight that people have come to expect on the ground. It’s no longer an amenity just for corporate road warriors, Don Buchman, vice president of commercial mobility at California-based Viasat, said in an interview. “You need to have it—it’s kind of like serving water and coffee,” he said. Elon Musk’s Starlink became the first of several planned low-Earth orbit satellite systems to enter the aviation market last month. Hawaiian Holdings Inc. and Dallas-based JSX Inc. said they’ll offer SpaceX’s Wi-Fi product to passengers for free, though neither carrier has a definitive date for availability. Hawaiian Holdings Inc. said April 25 it plans to equip three aircraft types with Starlink, with the first planned in 2023. Other satellite-based Wi-Fi providers in the rapidly evolving space include Anuvu Inc., which provides service from its own and other satellites; Intelsat SA, which acquired Gogo Inc.’s commercial airline business two years ago; and OneWeb Ltd., a startup partially owned by the UK government that’s working on a service for aircraft.<br/>