American Airlines chief executive Robert Isom said the US carrier is staying with Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, for in-flight Wi-Fi, telling CNBC’s business programme Squawk Box on Thursday 22 October that customers demand connectivity and that Starlink is the best product available. The interview, reported by Tesla North, aired on the same day American published its third-quarter results.
Key facts
- On 8 October, American said it now intends to install Starlink across its entire primary fleet of over 1,000 aircraft, according to Reuters, extending a plan that previously covered roughly half the fleet.
- That announcement roughly doubled the commitment American made in May, when it picked Starlink for more than 500 Airbus aircraft, Tesla North reported.
- Installations are due to start in early 2027, per Tesla North; Reuters, writing on 8 October, said the work begins next year.
- American reported record third-quarter revenue of US$16.3 billion alongside an adjusted loss driven by a US$1.9 billion jump in fuel costs, Tesla North said.
- Isom listed Starlink and seatback video among the customer experience investments he said are producing results as the airline works its way back to profitability.
Isom sidesteps the Ukraine question
Isom was asked on air whether American is comfortable doing business with Starlink after The Wall Street Journal, the US newspaper, reported that Elon Musk had ordered a slowdown of the Starlink service used by Ukraine’s military. According to Tesla North, he did not address the report directly and pointed to what passengers want instead.
“American has always been the leader in satellite Wi-Fi. We’ve had more aircraft equipped with satellite Wi-Fi than anybody for longer.”
— Robert Isom, chief executive, American Airlines, as quoted by Tesla North
He went on to say that customers demand connectivity and that American would make sure they have the best product in the marketplace, “and that means Starlink.”
A second account of the dispute comes from Musk himself. Tesla North reported that he wrote on X last week that Starshield, the military version of Starlink, is owned and controlled by the US government, and that any speed or usage limits are decided by the US military and ultimately the president — a direct rejection of the Journal’s account.
A note on sourcing: Starlink News has not reviewed a CNBC transcript or recording of the segment. The Isom quotations above are as carried by Tesla North, which watched the broadcast.
Why it matters
Two of the three largest US carriers have now committed their fleets to SpaceX, while Delta has so far stayed out, Tesla North reported. United is further along: Scott Kirby told the same CNBC programme a day earlier that Starlink is already pulling customers away from rivals, and United says the service is winning over rivals’ fliers.
On our reading of the two reports, the significant development is that the Ukraine dispute has now been put to an airline chief executive as a procurement question rather than a political one — and that it did not change his answer.
What American has committed to, and when
Reuters described the 8 October announcement as covering American’s entire primary fleet; Tesla North described it as putting Starlink on every jet in the mainline fleet, more than 1,000 Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies and widebodies. The equipment is SpaceX’s Performance Aero Terminal, an aircraft-mounted antenna system that American says can deliver speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second, according to Reuters, which attributed the speed figure to the airline rather than to SpaceX.
The timetable, not the order size, is what determines when passengers can actually use it: United expects to finish its installations by the end of next year, while American’s begin in early 2027, and neither report gives a completion date for American. That sequencing also sets near-term demand for Starlink’s aviation terminals, with more than 1,000 American aircraft queued behind United’s programme.
What is not yet known
Neither report says how American will sequence installations across its single-aisle and widebody aircraft, what happens to the satellite Wi-Fi systems already fitted to its jets, or whether the Ukraine controversy has prompted any contractual review at the airline. Neither source reports any comment from Delta or from SpaceX on Isom’s remarks.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Boeing aircraft does the expanded American Airlines plan add?
Reuters reported that the extended roll-out brings in over 530 Boeing aircraft. Reuters said American operates a mainline fleet of more than 1,030 aircraft, over 900 of them single-aisle planes, with the rest widebodies.
Will Starlink Wi-Fi be free for American Airlines passengers?
Neither Reuters nor Tesla North reports a price for the installation programme, and neither says whether American will charge passengers for the service. United’s Starlink Wi-Fi is free to fliers, according to reporting on CEO Scott Kirby’s comments.
Where is United Airlines in its own Starlink roll-out?
United CEO Scott Kirby told CNBC’s Squawk Box on Wednesday that United would have Starlink on half of its flights by the end of that week, Tesla North reported. Kirby said the airline expects to finish installing the service by the end of next year.
Which large US airline has not chosen Starlink?
Delta is the holdout among the three biggest US carriers, Tesla North reported. The airline has picked Amazon Leo for hundreds of jets, with that roll-out starting in 2028.
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