
Airplane Wi-Fi Is Now … Good?
Jaclyn Trop
created: July 2, 2025, 1 p.m. | updated: July 6, 2025, 11:43 a.m.
Expensive and erratic, in-flight Wi-Fi has been more of a punchline than a pipeline over the past decade.
The boost in bandwidth is changing the face of business travel, giving flyers the unprecedented ability to Slack, Zoom, and collaborate with coworkers from 35,000 feet.
Then, in 2013, JetBlue partnered with Viasat to pioneer the use of satellites for in-flight Wi-Fi.
Qatar Airways, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), Hawaiian Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and Air France have adopted or are in talks to potentially pilot test Starlink technology, as have Canada’s WestJet and US-based charter operator JSX.
Air New Zealand, which uses Viasat for its transpacific flights, plans to equip its domestic fleet with Starlink service later this year.
4 weeks, 2 days ago: WIRED