Looking for Fast Wi-Fi on Your Next Flight? Pick an Airline With Starlink
A new report by Ookla highlights that in-flight Wi-Fi consistency and speed have improved significantly due to Starlink, with airBaltic leading among 51 airlines in performance. Starlink-equipped flights consistently delivered high-speed connectivity, while older satellite systems lagged behind. However, outdated onboard Wi-Fi networks are now a bottleneck, limiting the passenger experience even when Starlink is available. Airlines are increasingly adopting Starlink, but competitors like Amazon Leo are also entering the in-flight broadband market.
- ▪Ookla's report measured in-flight Wi-Fi consistency using a 25Mbps download and 3Mbps upload benchmark, with airBaltic achieving 98.3% consistency via Starlink.
- ▪Starlink-powered flights at airlines like airBaltic, WestJet, Hawaiian Airlines, and Air France showed over 90% consistency, far outperforming older geosynchronous satellite systems.
- ▪Median download speeds on Starlink flights reached 223.14Mbps in Q4 2025, up from 159.44Mbps in the same quarter of 2024.
- ▪Despite advances in satellite connectivity, only 18.7% of Starlink flights used Wi-Fi 6, while most still relied on older Wi-Fi 5 or earlier standards.
- ▪Amazon Leo is emerging as a competitor to Starlink, with JetBlue and Delta Air Lines among its early airline partners.
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An info-dense report published Tuesday shows that in-flight satellite broadband is faster than ever, thanks mainly to Starlink, but the aging onboard Wi-Fi networks relaying that connectivity to passengers' devices may now serve as spoilers. The latest in a series of studies from Ookla draws from runs of its Speedtest connection-benchmarking tool on flights during the second half of 2025 to hand first place to SpaceX's low-Earth-orbit satellite broadband. Ookla's primary metric in this report, unlike one released last June, was not speed but consistency, measured by reliably supporting downloads of at least 25Mbps and uploads of at least 3Mbps.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at PCMag.
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