El Al Will Get Starlink Fleetwide, But It Will Take Time Before It’s Offered On Your Flight
In March 2025, I met with El Al leadership and, among other things, sold them hard on adding Starlink to their fleet. Airlines were just beginning to add it, and I explained that it would quickly become table stakes for airlines to offer. For a short while, it would be a competitive advantage, but soon, the most profitable business customers will actively avoid airlines that don’t offer the service.
Yes, it might be expensive to break current contracts and offer the service for free, but you can also gain loyalty members, and the cost of not offering it would ultimately be higher than offering it.
Starlink is a real game-changer in the skies, offering low-latency, high-speed internet that allows for real productivity and streaming in-flight like never before.
Airlines that add it have seen their Net Promoter Scores double. For now, airlines that have it have a competitive advantage, but pretty soon, airlines without it will find themselves left behind as passengers book away from them.
Starlink requires airlines to offer the service for free, though they can monetize it through advertising and can require users to be airline loyalty members.
Airlines without Starlink may not want to pay for the costs while also losing out on paid WiFi revenue. They may also have expensive contracts to break with current satellite WiFi providers. However, the risk of losing business passengers will grow exponentially as airlines with Starlink deploy the service fleetwide.
El Al finally announced today that they have committed to adding Starlink across their fleet, though it won’t be a rapid deployment.
The airline will begin by adding Starlink to its fleet of 32 737 narrowbody planes in 2027. That’s interesting, as those planes are slated to be replaced by 737MAX aircraft once those planes are delivered between 2028-2032.
El Al will then get to work on its 6 777s and finally its 17 787s widebodies, but it will take a few years for those to all be installed with Starlink. The airline hopes to finish the install by 2029.
It’s definitely exciting to see El Al commit to Starlink, though that’s a disappointingly long deployment window.
For comparison’s sake, United started adding Starlink to its mainline fleet this year and will complete the job next year. United has over 1,100 mainline aircraft and over 400 regional aircraft to retrofit.
After having used Starlink in the sky, I never want to go back to an older system. It’s great to see El Al offering the service, which will give them a competitive advantage over other airlines like American and Delta that don’t offer it.
Airlines with Starlink or adding Starlink include Aer Lingus, AirBaltic, Air Canada, Air Dolomiti, Air France, Air New Zealand, Alaska, American, Austrian, British Airways, Brussels, Emirates, Eurowings, FlyDubai, Gulf Air, Hawaiian, ITA, Iberia, JSX, Korean, Level, Lufthansa, Qatar, SAS, Singapore, Southwest, Swiss, United, Virgin Atlantic, Vueling, WestJet, Wizzair, ZipAir, and more.
Have you flown on a flight with Starlink yet?
