By Alison Sider

United Airlines started rolling out free Starlink Wi-Fi last month with fanfare. But it has had to disable the service on roughly two dozen planes to address problems with static interference.

United said Friday that it is working with Starlink to address "a small number of reports" about the problem, which it said isn't a flight-safety issue. While it is being fixed, the Starlink-equipped regional jets have been operating with the Wi-Fi turned off.

"We expect the service to be back up and running on these aircraft soon, " United said. The fix will be deployed during routine maintenance and the airline doesn't anticipate any impact to flight schedules.

SpaceX didn't respond to a request for comment. The issue was previously reported by The Points Guy.

Such problems are fairly common with any new in-flight internet provider, United said. Similar static interference issues have cropped up with other new Wi-Fi technology because of the number of antennas on planes.

United plans to outfit its entire fleet with Starlink, a division of Elon Musk's SpaceX that provides internet connections using a fleet of thousands of satellites located relatively close to earth. United has touted what it said is Starlink's faster, more reliable service, aiming to allow customers to use devices just as they do on the ground.

Starlink has driven revenue growth at SpaceX and the company has been pushing into the airline industry, striking agreements with Hawaiian Airlines and Air France. SpaceX surprised many satellite-industry executives by winning the fleetwide Starlink deal with United last year.

The problem emerged after Musk this week engaged in a war of words with President Trump, creating new risks for his companies.

United had previously accelerated its timeline to roll out Starlink. It said it remains on track to have Starlink available on all of its two-cabin regional jets by the end of the year.

Write to Alison Sider at alison.sider@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 06, 2025 22:43 ET (02:43 GMT)

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