American Airlines looks set to expand its Starlink wifi plans beyond the Airbus narrowbodies announced in May, according to aviation watcher JonNYC, who reports the rollout now appears to cover the Boeing 737, 777 and 787 families too. The airline hasn't confirmed it, but if it happens, nearly all of American's mainline fleet would get the fastest consumer internet in the sky — starting with the first Airbus installations in early 2027.
Why does this matter so much? American's domestic satellite wifi has long been decent, but its older Panasonic-equipped widebodies are notoriously bad. For anyone who works in the air, that's a real cost: a ticket on a competitor with good wifi can be worth paying extra for when the alternative is hours of dead time. Starlink's low-orbit satellites cut latency dramatically, so browsing and video calls feel normal — and the bandwidth holds up even with a full plane logged on.
The timing is interesting. Delta, long the premium benchmark, has signed with Amazon's Leo service, but installations aren't expected to begin until at least 2028 and the product isn't even in beta yet, with only 500 aircraft in the initial deal. If American delivers Starlink fleet-wide in the meantime, it could temporarily own the title of best-connected airline in the US.
It fits a broader comeback story. Over the past 18 months American has quietly reversed years of penny-pinching: new 787-9 business suites and a refreshed 777-300ER with 70 business seats, stronger premium economy, much-improved lounges (the Philadelphia Flagship Lounge gets particular praise), Lavazza coffee, better bedding, and the return of seatback screens — though that rollout doesn't start until 2028. Operational tweaks like holding flights for tight connections and better rebooking tools round it out.
American isn't there yet. Delta still leads on reliability — Cirium's 2025 figures put Delta at 80.90% on-time versus American's 76.43% — and Delta's premium lounges and existing seatback screens set a high bar. But American is growing in Los Angeles, leaning on its Alaska partnership, and its inflight meals now outshine Delta's. If the Starlink expansion lands on those long-haul 777s and 787s, frequent flyers who need to stay productive in the air may have a genuine reason to pick American over both Delta and United, whose own Starlink rollouts are still incomplete.
For holiday travellers, the practical takeaway is simple: wifi quality increasingly decides which airline is worth booking. Check the aircraft type before you fly — Starlink-equipped planes are the ones worth seeking out.
