United Airlines Gets FAA Certification On Starlink Aircraft; Plans First Commercial Flight For May

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(RTTNews) - United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL) announced Monday that the Federal Aviation Administration has approved its first Starlink-equipped aircraft type. The first commercial flight is planned for May, less than eight months after the deal was first announced.

In pre-market activity on the Nasdaq, United shares were losing around 3.6 percent to trade at $67.74.

The FAA issued a Supplemental Type Certificate or STC for the Embraer 175 and the airline expects the first commercial flight to be onboard a United Express Embraer 175.

United said the roll-out of the new technology continues to accelerate with around 40 regional jet installs planned monthly and the expectation that the entire two-cabin regional fleet of more than 300 planes will be completed by end of year.

Starlink, engineered and operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX, offers Wi-Fi speeds up to 250 megabits per second (Mbps), which is 50 times faster than current regional aircraft speeds. The company noted that Starlink access will be free for all MileagePlus customers and include game-changing inflight entertainment experiences like streaming services, shopping, gaming and more.

United added that it plans to run a beta test of the new technology on select flights between now and the first customer flight in May.

United plans to work with Starlink to secure an FAA STC to install Starlink on every United aircraft type getting the new equipment, which is more than 16 total regional and mainline aircraft models.

According to the FAA, the process to secure each STC can include design, installation, testing and submitting the package for FAA approval.

United in early March had unveiled the Starlink install process. According to the company, the Starlink system, when compared to non-Starlink equipment, allows for a faster and simpler install, is lighter requiring less fuel to operate and is more reliable and weather-proofed.