Travelore News: United Airlines Shuts Down Starlink WiFi Service On Some Of Its Planes After The Antennae's Caused Problems With Its Jets' Equipment

Air travel in America has been beset with headline-making troubles, from a shortage of air traffic controllers to Boeing planes suffering from catastrophic quality control.

Kevin Dietsch / Getty / Futurism

Now add Starlink equipment — yes, SpaceX's satellite-based internet provider — that's interfering with radio communications on some United Airlines regional jets, according to The Wall Street Journal, leading the airline to shut down the WiFi service aboard its Embraer E175 jets.

Whenever they communicated with air traffic controllers, pilots were getting static interference on their radio transmission, which was then linked to the recent installation of Starlink antennae. The WSJ reports that the airline doesn't think it was a safety issue.

"Starlink is now installed on about two dozen United regional aircraft," read a statement from the airline, published by The Points Guy, which first broke the story. "United and Starlink teams are working together to address a small number of reports of static interference during the operation of the Wi-Fi system, which is fairly common with any new airline Wi-Fi provider. We expect the service to be back up and running on these aircraft soon."

Airplane safety was thrown into high relief earlier this year when a helicopter collided with an airplane in Washington, DC, which killed more than 60 people.

Besides safety, another hidden concern is Musk's increasing entanglement with critical parts of the nation's infrastructure, from DOGE to SpaceX rockets being used to ferry astronauts back and forth between Earth and the International Space Station.

Despite Musk's recent falling out with Trump over federal spending, Musk and his companies remain pillars of transportation and commerce. There appears to be no plans to phase out SpaceX spacecraft, for instance, regardless of grandstanding from Trump.

The inclusion of the Starlink equipment on airplanes is just another piece to Musk's growing empire — and evidence that society relies on him a lot, whether for good or ill.

by Sharon Adarlo

United And Spotify Announce New Collaboration: Music, Podcasts, And Audiobooks Now Available On 130,000+ Seatback Screens

United and Spotify today announced a first-of-its-kind collaboration that delivers an even more entertaining travel experience in the sky, with 450+ hours of content now available for free on the airline's 130,000+ seatback screens, many of which offer stunning 4K quality and Bluetooth audio compatibility.

This is the first time Spotify has offered audiobooks and video podcasts onboard an airline, allowing United flyers to enjoy more than 65+ pieces of content, including popular titles like Good Hang with Amy Poehler, The Dave Chang Show, and The Comment Section with Drew Afualo.

In addition, next year, United passengers will be able to use their personal devices to log into the Spotify app on the inflight entertainment screen. This will allow passengers to enjoy their favorite personalized content on the seatback so they can pick-up their favorite podcasts, music, and audiobooks from right where they left off.

"Spotify has a huge audience and people love their content. And now our customers can enjoy it all in a simple and easy way, at 35,000 feet," said Richard Nunn, CEO of MileagePlus. "Together, we're giving millions of customers an entirely new way to experience and explore premium content from the world's most popular artists, authors and podcasters –all while flying with the latest technology in the sky."

"As a frequent United flyer myself, it's incredibly exciting to see Spotify now available on the world's largest airline," said Ian Geller, VP of Business Development at Spotify. "At Spotify, we're dedicated to being everywhere our users are, giving creators opportunities to reach new platforms and engage different audiences. I'm especially looking forward to bringing an even more personalized app streaming experience to seatbacks next year."

Onboard Experience

Spotify content will be available on more than 680 United aircraft and appear as a new content category – "Spotify." This replaces "audio" under the home menu and includes 'Podcast', 'Video Podcasts', 'Audiobooks', and 'Playlists' channels. Additionally, in the coming months, a majority of aircraft will receive a dedicated 'Spotify' featured channel where all Spotify content will be housed together for quick and easy enjoyment.

On Starlink-equipped aircraft, travelers can stream Spotify content on their personal devices from gate-to-gate without interruption. All they will need to do is log in to their MileagePlus® account and accept the terms and conditions for using Starlink. From there, travelers can open their Spotify app and stream content, just like they do at home.

Collaboration Beyond the Skies

To celebrate the launch, MileagePlus members who are new to Premium Individual can sign up for a subscription and earn up to 1,000 bonus miles. Spotify is also partnering with Kinective MediaSM by United Airlines – the airline industry's first traveler media network – to share the offer with United customers throughout their travel journey. Travelers may see prompts to sign up for Spotify Premium and earn miles based on their MileagePlus status. These messages will be served across United's owned and operated media channels, including inflight entertainment screens, the United app, United Club screens, email and more.

To learn more visit united.com/spotify.