In April 2025, American made an thrilling and overdue announcement, about inflight Wi-Fi. Whereas that is simply weeks from being rolled out on a widespread foundation, I’d like to supply an extra replace, as passengers might already begin to obtain free Wi-Fi earlier than then…
American will provide free Wi-Fi for AAdvantage members
American Airways will introduce free inflight Wi-Fi as of January 2026, sponsored by AT&T. Free Wi-Fi shall be out there solely for members of the service’s AAdvantage program, and the airline highlights the way it will provide free inflight connectivity on extra planes than another home service.
This shall be provided on all plane outfitted with Viasat and Intelsat excessive pace satellite tv for pc connectivity, accounting for roughly 90% of the fleet. Which means most huge physique jets gained’t offer free Wi-Fi. That’s truthful sufficient, since Delta is battling really providing its promised free Wi-Fi in lots of lengthy haul markets attributable to satellite tv for pc availability, and that has now been delayed by as much as two years.
Right here’s how Heather Garboden, American’s Chief Buyer Officer, describes this growth:
“Our clients tremendously worth staying related whereas within the air, whether or not speaking with associates, getting work achieved, checking in on social media or streaming their favourite subscription companies. We’ve been working diligently to outfit our plane with best-in-class high-speed Wi-Fi and along with AT&T are proud to supply these companies for gratis to our most loyal clients.”
The fascinating replace, as flagged by JonNYC, is that American is now already beginning “testing” rolling out this new service. In order of immediately (December 10, 2025), you might discover that choose flights already provide free inflight Wi-Fi. There shall be no advance discover of this, although. As an alternative, passengers will solely discover out as soon as onboard their flight.
What an thrilling growth for American passengers!
Lately, American has actually misplaced its edge on the subject of inflight connectivity, so I’d think about this to be a massively optimistic growth. Let me present some background…
Going again a number of years, American was one of the best of the “massive three” airways when it got here to inflight Wi-Fi. The airline had Viasat Wi-Fi on essentially the most jets, that means that passengers had entry to quick Wi-Fi. Delta and United additionally charged for Wi-Fi, however had significantly worse techniques for inflight connectivity. Over time, the state of affairs modified:
At the moment Delta beats American, because it additionally has quick Wi-Fi, nevertheless it’s free. In the meantime United goes to beat American as soon as it has Starlink on a widespread foundation, however full rollout is probably going a few years down the highway.
In terms of American, the difficulty hasn’t simply been that the airline expenses for Wi-Fi, but additionally how a lot the airline has been charging. For instance, Alaska, Southwest, and United, have all traditionally charged $8 per phase for Wi-Fi, whereas American’s pricing is far and wide, and typically prices $20+ per phase.
American hasn’t even been providing free inflight messaging, except for the T-Cellular partnership. That’s wild as a result of:
- It’s one thing that even United presents at this level, with its inferior connectivity system
- American promised a number of years again that it could introduce free inflight messaging, however then backtracked
Going again to early 2025, American CEO Robert Isom went on document as saying that the airline had no plans to introduce free Wi-Fi. Clearly over the previous a number of months, we’ve lastly seen administration change its technique.
American has been tremendously lagging each Delta and United on the subject of profitability. For therefore lengthy, the airline thought it didn’t really want to compete with these airways on product, however somewhat, that it might be worthwhile by way of its (primarily home) community.
That complete technique simply didn’t materialize, and there are some main adjustments on the airline, whereby administration realizes the corporate must turn into extra aggressive, and concentrate on the passenger expertise.
Look, I don’t suppose we’re instantly going to see American retrofit slender physique planes with TVs, or massively enhance the gentle product, however I feel the airline will now not minimize corners in areas the place it’s so obviously apparent that the airline must compete. With each Delta and United pledging to supply free Wi-Fi, it has been clear that American wants to do that as nicely, which is why we’re seeing this alteration.
Backside line
American plans to introduce free inflight Wi-Fi as of January 2026, although testing of this service is already beginning as of December 10, 2025.
This shall be out there for AAdvantage members on plane outfitted with Viasat and Intelsat connectivity, which features a overwhelming majority of slender physique jets. Competitively, American wanted to do that, so I’m completely happy to see the corporate is definitely following by way of on this. As somebody who has been subscribed to a month-to-month Wi-Fi go, it will save me lots of of {dollars} per yr.
What do you make of American introducing free Wi-Fi?
