Wi-Fi will be free to those who sign up for Alaska’s Atmos Rewards. A partnership with T-Mobile means the carrier’s customers can skip the ads; everyone else will have to sit through a few.
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The constellation of airlines offering free in-flight connectivity via SpaceX’s Starlink service will soon include Alaska Airlines.
Alaska announced this plan on Wednesday in one of the less surprising plot twists in commercial aviation. Hawaiian Airlines, which was acquired by Alaska Airlines’s parent company last year, began deploying Starlink in February 2024.
Alaska will start offering Starlink connectivity with «speeds up to 500Mbps» in 2026 and finish the rollout across Alaska’s mainline and regional aircraft, plus all of Hawaiian’s planes, by 2027.
“With Starlink already live on Hawaiian Airlines and installations starting this winter across Alaska’s fleet, we’re proud that we’ll offer the fastest, most reliable in-flight internet in the skies – with gate-to-gate connectivity on nearly every aircraft across both airlines,” says Ben Minicucci, CEO and president of Alaska Air Group.
Starlink Wi-Fi, provided via a constellation of more than 8,000 satellites about 350 miles up, will be free on Alaska’s planes, as it has been on every other airline offering Starlink broadband; today, Alaska charges $8 on most of its flights.Bypass Ads and Connect Immediately (With T-Mobile)
A separate press release announcing T-Mobile’s sponsorship of this connectivity specifies that passengers will need an account in Alaska’s Atmos Rewards frequent-flyer program, itself announced Wednesday as the combined replacement for Alaska’s Mileage Plan and Hawaiian’s HawaiianMiles. (The Atmos moniker bears no relation to the Dolby surround-sound technology, so don’t expect elite status in Atmos Rewards to get you an upgrade to your home theater.
