United Airlines has stopped using Starlink satellite internet in its United Express E175s because it’s been causing radio interference with the flight deck comms. “Starlink is now installed on about two dozen United regional aircraft. United and Starlink teams are working together to address a small number of reports of static interference during the operation of the Wi-Fi system, which is fairly common with any new airline Wi-Fi provider,” United said in a statement to One Mile At A Time. “We expect the service to be back up and running on these aircraft soon.”
United and Starlink say they’ve already found a fix for the issue but it will take weeks to get all the aircraft updated because the work will only be done during scheduled maintenance. About eight planes have been retrofitted. The plan is to have all United Express aircraft with first class sections fitted with Starlink by the end of the year. The service provides fiber-like Wi-Fi speeds in flight.
No. This wasn’t a glitch. It was radio interference affecting primary flight comms. That’s not minor, it’s a direct threat to situational awareness and safety, especially in congested airspace. The fact that Starlink’s system interfered with VHF radios means something went wrong in either design, shielding, installation, or certification. These systems are required to meet DO-160 EMI standards. If it passed certification but still caused cockpit interference, that suggests a serious disconnect between lab testing and operational reality.
Press statements calling it a “common” issue with new Wi-Fi systems miss the point. The fix matters, but so does knowing how this got missed.
Anything connected with Musk is suspicious!
Part of what my organization does is flight testing as part of our R&D efforts. We run into the disconnect between lab and flight all the time because it’s difficult to replicate everything on the ground. If there was a deficiency, it was not enough flight testing before going operational. And if it’s some aircraft but not all aircraft, then maybe those aircraft aren’t meeting specs elsewhere.
It would be interesting to know if they conducted actual flight testing with a full load of “passengers” on board using the system.
My tounge-and-cheek response to get the curmudgeons blood boiling: To avoid paying $5 and avoid clicking “I agree” when connect to the airliners unreliable wifi systems, could one bring their own Starlink Mini and stick it to the window? Not saying to do that or if it would work, but is there a regulation that prevents that? Is it the same regulation that mandates everyone use “airplane mode” on their phones wink-wink? If it interferes with cockpit comms that is a serious thing and nobody wants to crash and die on their way to vacation in Florida. But I have never heard of a cell phone or ipad crashing an airliner. As I understand it, an “unapproved electronic device” is banned until / unless the FAA or operator can show that the device does not interfere with communications or navigation functions. Weird that Elon’s creation is causing so much static at this time …
Definitely not acceptable if a transmitter, which a SATCOM device like Starlink has to be. Passive receiver like GPS is different.
It’s NOT that your cell device will hurt the airplane. The issue is that, with a plane load of cell phones flying over, all of those devices will maintain a connection with every cell tower in reach. This will render the cell tower too busy and a ground based 911 call would not get through.
I got this info from a CAP communication tech a few years ago.