Was the 'fast, free' Wi-Fi really slow on your flight, too? Here's what's going on
You know that fast, free inflight Wi-Fi your airline promised? If you've been on a flight lately and found it to be ... well, kind of slow ... you're not alone.
The Wi-Fi provider that supplies on-board internet to several of the nation's biggest airlines admits its service has been a bit sluggish recently as more customers than ever log on, stream videos and eat up precious bandwidth.
Elsewhere, passengers taking long flights to Europe and Asia have reported prolonged internet outages, lately, even when paying for the service.
And even more flyers have run into a frustrating reality: Some planes now have faster Wi-Fi than they enjoy at home — but on others, the service barely works at all.
These are the predictable growing pains as airlines race to make logging on at 30,000 feet the norm on every flight.
And it's something to keep in mind before your next trip.
A speedbump in the 'fast, free' rollout
Trying to use internet while on a flight used to be a frustrating and expensive experience for passengers.
But over the last few years, the technology has improved rapidly. Along the way, U.S. carriers have moved to ditch Wi-Fi fees, opting instead to dangle complimentary access as a prime new perk for any passenger with a loyalty program membership.
Not surprisingly, though, bandwidth hiccups have popped up as a deluge of flyers unburdened by $10 or $20 fees have connected multiple devices, streamed YouTube and scrolled TikTok while in the air.
Viasat satellite issue snarls web surfing
In recent months, data "supply and demand" constraints have plagued Viasat, a key Wi-Fi provider for American, Delta, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue and others.
A big reason: the company ran into problems with a satellite it launched into orbit in 2023, which was supposed to help shoulder the data load of multiple large airlines opening up their Wi-Fi to virtually all passengers.
"Unfortunately, we got caught in a little bit of a spot where there wasn't as much capacity as we had planned to be on orbit," Don Buchman, president of aviation at Viasat, told TPG. "It created a short-term problem."
Frustration for flyers
Customers have noticed the recent slowdown. One loyal American flyer commenting on a recent TPG story said he wished the airline's internet paywall was still in place.
"They opened it up to anyone," he said, "and on my last seven or eight flights, the service has been absolute garbage."
I've experienced the spottiness firsthand on some recent American and Delta flights — a shift from what was previously pretty reliable service that allowed me to easily work from the sky.
'Light at the end of the tunnel'
Viasat says it's confident things are about to get a lot better.
In April, the company launched a new satellite that will come online and double its data capacity — meaning way more bandwidth for passengers — by the end of the summer.
"It'll be back to where it was and better," Buchman said. "There's definitely a light at the end of the tunnel."
In a statement to TPG, Delta said it was "excited for soon-to-come upgrades" that will "unlock expanded service across the Americas" beginning in August.
Long-haul Wi-Fi woes
But the Wi-Fi hang-ups go well beyond the Americas.
Passengers on long-haul flights have run into significant internet outages in recent months.
In particular, some American and United passengers have reported virtually nonfunctional service on some transoceanic flights, especially on planes with older Wi-Fi tech from Panasonic — which supplies connectivity to many of the two airlines' big twin-aisle jets.
The complaints have surfaced across Reddit and other online forums — and hit TPG staffers, too.
Last week, TPG founder Brian Kelly reported he had "horribly slow and unreliable internet" on a United flight to Rome.
That mirrors my own experience: On a 17-hour United flight from San Francisco to Singapore in April, the Wi-Fi was effectively unusable. It wasn't much better on an American flight from Europe the following month, where internet access cost $35.
Those are long stretches in the air with little to no connectivity, especially at a time when passengers increasingly expect they'll be connected while in the air.
Asked about the recent issues, Panasonic did not address the recent outages. Instead, the company simply said it was developing next-generation satellite service that would help it meet "the passenger expectations of tomorrow."
"This is our principal area of focus," a spokesperson told TPG.
United, meanwhile, said it was "actively engaged in conversations with Panasonic to address these issues."
All-in on Starlink
Airlines are making moves, in the meantime.
United, Alaska Airlines and Southwest are each in the process of upgrading their Wi-Fi tech with Starlink, which at the moment is clearly (and reliably) the fastest internet in the sky.
Notably, United last week said it was accelerating plans to bring those Starlink satellites to its widebody airplanes, which should offer a major connectivity boost on long-haul flights.
American recently announced its own Starlink plans, while Delta and JetBlue have said they'll upgrade many of their jets in the coming years with future Starlink-like service from Amazon.
Viasat, for its part, has longer-term upgrades in the works that the company says will significantly improve its Wi-Fi service on carriers in the coming years — beyond the boost that's already expected to come next month.
Will the Wi-Fi work on your flight, or not?
Still, all of those innovations take time — not to mention countless hours of work from airlines' maintenance teams.
Best bet in the meantime?
Dial it back to 2019: download that podcast before your flight, just in case. Load up the tablet with a movie. And let the boss know you could be out of pocket when the plane pushes back.
Sure, it's possible your Wi-Fi might be better than what you have at home. It's also possible it'll be really spotty.
Because while the inflight internet renaissance is here, it's also still very much a work in progress.
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