FAA Approves United Airlines for Starlink

First commercial flights slated for May

Meg Godlewski

Monday, March 31, 2025 at 01:10 PM ET

Verified

Edited By: Steve Spears

Key Takeaways:

United Airlines has received FAA approval (Supplemental Type Certificate) to operate Starlink-equipped aircraft, with the first customer flights set to begin in May on Embraer 175 planes.
The airline plans to equip its entire two-cabin regional fleet of over 300 planes with Starlink by the end of the year, and eventually expand to more than 16 regional and mainline aircraft models.
Starlink will offer significantly faster in-flight internet (50x current speeds), be free for MileagePlus members, and provides technical benefits like lighter equipment and easier installation.

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United Airlines has obtained approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to operate Starlink-equipped aircraft. The legacy air carrier made the announcement Monday, adding that the first customer flights will begin in May of this year, which is less than eight months since the deal was first announced.

According to United, the FAA issued a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for the Embraer 175 and the airline expects the first commercial flight with Starlink will be a United Express Embraer 175.