Investing.com -- American Airlines Group (NASDAQ: AAL) plans to equip its entire mainline fleet with SpaceX's (NASDAQ: SPCX) Starlink satellite internet service, significantly expanding its high-speed connectivity initiative as major U.S. carriers race to offer premium inflight Wi-Fi.

The expanded agreement will bring Starlink to more than 1,000 mainline aircraft, including Airbus narrowbodies as well as Boeing narrowbody and widebody jets, with installations scheduled to begin in early 2027. The move more than doubles the carrier’s initial commitment from May, which previously targeted just over 500 Airbus jets.

Against that backdrop, airlines have increasingly viewed gate-to-gate satellite internet as a core competitive differentiator rather than a discretionary add-on. American’s fleet will deploy Starlink’s Performance Aero Terminal, which is engineered to deliver connection speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second per terminal.

The investment positions the carrier to support high-bandwidth passenger demand across its global network, ranging from live video streaming and cloud collaboration to online gaming. Management indicated that dependable, high-speed Wi-Fi remains a critical priority for passenger retention, while providing a foundation for future digital services.

For its part, SpaceX continues to solidify Starlink’s footprint across commercial aviation, leveraging its low-Earth orbit constellation to secure high-profile fleet contracts. The partnership gives American scale in satellite connectivity as the carrier prepares to take delivery of more than 300 new aircraft in the coming years.

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