Hawaiian Airlines launched its new in-flight Wi-Fi on a flight between Honolulu and Long Beach earlier this week. The airline will offer SpaceX’s Starlink high-speed, low-latency broadband internet on select A321neo aircraft.
The Wi-Fi is free for passengers, and as the airline said in a Feb. 8 blog post, it is “available the moment guests step onboard the aircraft – without tedious registration pages and clunky payment portals.”
Chris Liebertz, senior director of engineering at Hawaiian Airlines, said in a statement that the launch of the service marks a “milestone.”
Hawaiian first announced its partnership with Starlink in 2022. According to the airline, it is the first major carrier to deploy Starlink internet.
“In marrying this best-in-class technology with our authentic Hawaiian hospitality, we are offering our guests a travel experience unlike any other airline flying to and from the Hawaiian Islands,” Liebertz stated.
According to the blog post, the in-flight internet will provide “streaming, gaming and other connected experiences often enjoyed at home.”
“Starlink’s self-designed aviation terminal installed on Hawaiian's aircraft allows each plane to receive strong, fast internet signals from the satellites orbiting above Earth,” stated Will Seidel, director of Starlink engineering at SpaceX. “The terminal will seamlessly switch connections from satellite to satellite as planes cross the Pacific, providing an uninterrupted internet experience for passengers.”
According to Hawaiian Airlines, the company conducted on-the-ground and in-flight tests to evaluate the performance and safety of the service.
The airline said it plans to continue to roll out Starlink on all A321 neo aircraft, as well as for its long-haul fleet.
“The carrier expects to install and activate antennas on all its 18 A321neo aircraft by spring, followed by its A330s by the end of the year, and later its new flagship aircraft, the Boeing 787-9,” the airline said in the blog post.
