American Airlines is leaping into the Starlink arms race, with the Fort Worth carrier saying Tuesday that it will install the premium internet service on select narrowbody aircraft starting early next year.
American, which operates its central hub at DFW International Airport, said it plans to update its internet service on more than 500 Airbus aircraft, including new A321XLR and A321neo deliveries. The airline told The Dallas Morning News that its Boeing fleet, including the widebody planes it frequently uses to service long-haul international corridors, would not be receivingStarlink retrofits at this time.
Starlink uses satellite constellation technology in a low Earth orbit to bring high-speed internet capable of supporting streaming, online gaming, video calls, and more, according to the company’s website. The service is operated by SpaceX, the Texas-based aerospace company founded by Elon Musk.
Starlink offers more benefits than existing satellite Wi-Fi since it sits in a lower orbit in space. Starlink orbits the Earth at about 340 miles and covers the entire globe, cutting the latency time— the data time between the user and satellite — to about 25 milliseconds, according to its website.