Industry

WestJet announces free in-flight Wi-Fi delivered by Starlink

By 26-07-2024 July 28th, 2024 No Comments

WestJet and TELUS will be Canada’s first to leverage Starlink technology to bring Canadians best-in-class, high-speed Internet on-board beginning December 2024.

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WestJet will be the largest North American and first commercial Boeing 737 airline to offer inflight connectivity powered by Starlink’s best-in-class technology platform, which includes the world’s largest satellite constellation. Starlink was selected as WestJet’s new inflight technology partner for its ability to deliver enough bandwidth and lowest latency internet for every guest onboard to live-stream videos or online game direct from their devices as if they were at home.

“With more than 1,000 aircraft committed to Starlink worldwide, high-speed, low-latency internet is the future of aviation connectivity and we’re excited to work with WestJet to bring Starlink technology to their guests in the coming months,” said Jason Fritch, SpaceX’s Vice President of Starlink Enterprise Sales.

This new platform will take flight before the end of 2024, with plans to complete the installation on WestJet’s modern narrowbody fleet by the end of 2025. All wide-body aircraft are planned to be upgraded by the end of 2026.

Access to the new inflight system will be exclusively provided to WestJet Rewards members free of charge thanks to TELUS. WestJet guests can easily become WestJet Rewards members by simply creating a WestJet Rewards account online at any time in advance of their WestJet operated flight.