If you’ve flown recently, you know that in-flight WiFi can be slow, laggy and unresponsive.
But not anymore.
Hawaiian Airlines has been busy installing super speedy Starlink internet on board their planes.
Recently, they brought me on board a flight from Long Beach to Honolulu to check it out.
How do you know your plane has the upgrade? A sticker on the door lets you know. Look for it before you board.
Then, once you’re on, the internet starts the moment you get to your seat. No need to wait to connect.
Immediately, I did a few speed tests and was super impressed with the results.
I got bursts of speed topping 200 megabits per second, and consistent speeds around 100.
That’s similar to a connection at home.
I was able to stream Netflix, upload and download large files, play Roblox and even stream a Peloton workout (too bad I didn’t have a bike!).
There’s really no need to plan ahead and download anymore. You can just watch what you want on your own streaming services, on demand.
“It is really important for us as a smaller airline to have that distinctive level of service,” said Hawaiian Airlines CEO Peter Ingram. “If you think about the real earliest generations of connectivity on airplanes… the common theme was… it was terrible.”
“This is amazing,” fellow passenger Adriene Xerri told me. She’s been on flights to Hawaii many times as an employee with the travel company Pleasant Holidays.
“Feedback’s been great… both from guests and flight attendants… they’ve really been impressed with the quality of the signal,” said Evan Nomura, Hawaiian Airlines’ director of in-flight entertainment and onboard products.
My take: this internet is so good that in-flight entertainment systems might go by the wayside.
Hawaiian’s CEO told me they will continue to outfit some of their planes with screens so passengers have a choice to bring their own entertainment or watch what’s offered on seatback screens.
Starlink is free… and Hawaiian plans to keep it that way.
“We figured since we were later to the party of providing internet connection on our planes… that we would just jump to offering the very very best and offering if it complimentary and letting the rest of the market try to catch up to us,” said Ingram.
So far, Hawaiian Airlines has outfitted all 18 of its A321neo aircraft with Starlink internet service. Later this year, it plans to expand the service to its fleet of 24 A330 planes and to its new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Starlink is a game changer up in the air. While there are no data limits and you can connect multiple devices, they do ask that passengers don’t make voice or video calls, or live-stream from their seats, and offensive content is not allowed.