The other day, Hawaiian Airlines held its Q2 2024 earnings call. I’ll get into the other info discussed in the call soon, but I wanted to highlight a development I know most of you care about – A330 Starlink certification is complete, and installations are going to wrap up much sooner than initially anticipated.
Hawaiian Airlines is the first regularly scheduled airline to offer Starlink high-speed WiFi onboard their aircraft. As such, they’ve had to obtain Federal Aviation Administration certification for each of the aircraft types they plan to install Starlink on. These certifications are for the aircraft type, not just Hawaiian, so any airline operating in the U.S. can now install Starlink on these same jets. – that’s just the price of being first.
Earlier this year, Hawaiian completed certification and installation of Starlink across its entire A321neo fleet in a process I discussed here. However, in a bit of a surprise, it seems that A330 Starlink certification is complete, and that Hawaiian will now complete rollout on the type well ahead of schedule.
A330 Starlink Certification is Complete
Hawaiian Airlines held its Q2 2024 earnings call the other day, and it was a bit of a mixed bag. I’ll get into the details more in a future post, but I wanted to share and expand on a nugget of good news reported by CEO Peter Ingram. Apparently, A330 Starlink certification is complete and 25% of the fleet is already equipped! They currently have 24 A330s in their fleet, which means six of these birds currently have fast, free WiFi onboard. Which ones precisely wasn’t divulged during the call. That said, until they complete installations on the type, getting Starlink on your flight is going to be a game of chance.
Speaking of installations, Hawaiian originally anticipated having its A330s fully equipped by the end of 2024. However, with the speed at which they’re progressing, they not anticipate having Starlink on every A330 by the end of Q3 2024, which means they anticipate wrapping up this project by September 30, 2024.
With the completion of the A330 fleet’s installations, most of Hawaiian’s mainline fleet will offer complimentary WiFi service. However, HA2/3 HNL-LAX and HA35/36 HNL-PHX are currently operated by Hawaiian’s new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, which aren’t certified for Starlink yet. In fact, Hawaiian has no timeline for this project yet, and I wouldn’t expect them to anytime soon. After all, the 787 is an all-new type for the airline, and there are only two frames in their fleet thus far. Taking them out of service for the certification, especially at this early stage isn’t ideal.
Final Thoughts
That A330 Starlink certification is complete and installations are way ahead of schedule is certainly good news. However, with the pending merger looming over everything, I kind of wonder what the future of in-flight internet access will look like in the future. After all, Alaska Air uses Intelsat for its satellite-based WiFi service, offers free messaging to its passengers, and charges $8 for full internet access, whereas Hawaiian offers Starlink for free.
In the immediate future, I’d expect Hawaiian to continue offering Starlink access for free, and Alaska Air will continue on with its current access structure. But, once things begin to integrate more, I think it would be great to see Alaska migrate to Starlink, too. I know that’s not necessarily a likely move, given the size of investment needed to re-equip their larger fleet, but by all accounts, Starlink does seem to be one of the better options out there today, at least for now.
What do you think? Have you had the opportunity to use Starlink aboard a Hawaiian flight? How do you like it?