If that headline seems a bit less than whole-hearted, it’s because American Airlines’ free WiFi announcement has a lot of sorta/maybes attached to it ahead of its promised date starting in 2026.
But at least it’s moving forward, although it’s the last of the U.S. major carriers to make an offer. Delta is nearly complete, United has a concrete plan in place and the promise of Starlink, and now American, which is, so far, also the most expensive WiFi in the air, with single flights costing as much as $35.
Like Delta’s offer, American’s applies only to members of its loyalty program, but signing up for AAdvantage costs nothing, so we’ll not quibble about that. Where the quibble comes in is that the offer, with AT&T as sponsor, applies only to flights where the internet provider is Viasat or Intelsat. Intelsat is being installed on AA’s regional fleet, much of which has no WiFi.
That leaves one very big hole: American’s long-haul fleet is mainly equipped with Panasonic WiFi, and that’s not included in the offer.
As well, while American refits its smaller planes with the new WiFi, it will be turning off the existing system, leaving a portion of the regional fleet with no WiFi at all, according to Gary Leff of View from the Wing.
