By Rajesh Kumar Singh
RIO DE JANEIRO, June 9 (Reuters) - Global airlines' push to attract premium customers is making fast in-flight Wi-Fi an increasingly important perk, turning a once-patchy paid service into an emerging battleground between Elon Musk's Starlink and Jeff Bezos' Amazon Leo satellite network.
Starlink, which operates around two-thirds of all satellites in space and is the major driver of revenue for SpaceX, has signed up 11 new airline customers globally so far in 2026, after 22 in 2025
and eight in 2024, compared with three in 2022, according to Valour Consultancy, an aviation intelligence firm.
Amazon, which is still building out its Leo satellite constellation, faces a potential setback after a Blue Origin rocket failure last month. It has signed up its first customers, securing deals with Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways.
Installing Starlink or Amazon's satellite broadband is a significant investment for airlines, running into the hundreds of millions of dollars for large fleets. But as carriers increasingly rely on premium products to boost margins, they are likely to commit more heavily in the coming years, said Decius Valmorbida, president of travel at Amadeus, a travel technology company, describing the technology as a "game changer."
"It's going to become a necessity that every airline will rush to have its own version of. It is becoming a must‑have," Valmorbida told Reuters.
Starlink, which uses thousands of low-Earth-orbit satellites rather than larger, slower geostationary satellites, is multiple times faster than legacy systems, according to Ookla, a broadband analytics firm.
In a sign of demand across the airline spectrum, Southwest Airlines said it chose Starlink for its "speed to market," but has not ruled out Amazon's Leo as it pushes for industry-leading Wi-Fi. "There's multiple ways to get there," Tony Roach, Southwest's chief customer and brand officer, told Reuters.
American Airlines said in late May it would equip more than 500 narrowbody aircraft with Starlink starting in early 2027.
RYANAIR REJECTS STARLINK ON COSTS
Not everyone is convinced. Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary has ruled out adopting Starlink, citing costs and fuel burn from the antennas, prompting a fiery dispute with Musk.
Jefferies analysts estimate American Airlines' Starlink rollout could cost $150 million to $250 million for equipment and installation, based on its fleet, before annual service fees that could exceed $60 million. Reuters could not identify equivalent public estimates for airline deployments of Amazon's Leo.
MUSK'S STARLINK VS BEZOS' AMAZON LEO
Lluc Palerm, research director at Analysys Mason, said airline Wi-Fi "will become a battleground" between Starlink and Amazon Leo, though Amazon remains limited as its satellite constellation is in its infancy.
SpaceX now holds Starlink contracts covering more than 7,000 aircraft, cementing an "undeniable" lead, said Daniel Welch, a senior consultant at Valour Consultancy.
Palerm said Starlink's early gains are meaningful because switching providers is costly: aircraft must be taken out of service for installations, onboard equipment is provider-specific and contracts typically run for years.
The airline sales come as SpaceX's upcoming record-breaking public listing has sharpened investor focus on Starlink's expansion beyond consumer broadband. Starlink generated $11.4 billion of SpaceX's $18.67 billion revenue in 2025, according to SpaceX's IPO filing, making it by far the company's largest revenue source.
Starlink is emphasizing speed and installation simplicity, while Amazon is pitching a broader technology ecosystem, including cloud computing, entertainment and retail links that it says can help airlines serve passengers beyond basic connectivity.
Delta's choice of Amazon Leo illustrates that distinction. The carrier selected Amazon Leo for an initial 500 aircraft beginning in 2028, building on its Amazon Web Services relationship.
Legacy in-flight Wi-Fi providers including Viasat, Intelsat, Panasonic Avionics and Hughes remain embedded across large fleets, with multi-orbit backup offerings and coverage in markets where newer Leo providers still face regulatory hurdles.
FAST WI-FI HELPS AIRLINES TAP OTHER REVENUE
For airlines, faster Wi-Fi is about more than keeping passengers entertained. It gives carriers another way to draw customers into loyalty programs and market flights, upgrades and credit cards after the trip ends.
A 2025 Journal of Air Transport Management study found Wi-Fi availability was linked to higher passenger share on routes studied. At Southwest, the first Starlink-equipped aircraft is expected to be serviceable later this month and the airline has targeted more than 300 conversions by year-end, though executives said the pace depends on how fast Starlink can supply equipment.
"I want to give you fewer and fewer reasons to book another airline or feel like you need to travel on another airline," Southwest's CEO, Bob Jordan, said.
Delta has said more than 163 million SkyMiles members have used its free Wi-Fi since 2023, showing the scale of passenger engagement airlines are building around onboard connectivity.
United Airlines says free Starlink Wi-Fi for MileagePlus members now covers more than 25% of its daily flights, with full fleet coverage expected by end-2027.
"That is going to be a differentiator versus every other airline," United CEO Scott Kirby said.
(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Joe Brock and Matthew Lewis)
