Alaska Airlines plans to offer high-speed Wi-Fi on regional jets
Alaska Airlines becomes the first major airline to announce plans to offer high-speed satellite Wi-Fi on its regional jets. To do so, it has selected Intelsat’s technology.
The new service will use an ESA (electronically steered array) system, which is a small, lightweight antenna with no moving parts, making it easy to maintain in the unique regional environment. In an industry first, Intelsat’s new system will communicate with both traditional geostationary (GEO) and new low earth orbit (LEO) satellites. With an additional investment of $25 million, this upgrade represents a major step forward in the passenger travel experience, enabling higher speeds and more coverage over the air, especially in areas of the state of Alaska.
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The new system will debut on Alaska Airlines subsidiary Horizon Air in early 2024 and will be rolled out to our entire regional jet fleet, including partner SkyWest, over a two-year period. By April, nearly the entire mainline fleet will have satellite Wi-Fi, also installed by Intelsat.
“Bringing a high-speed satellite Wi-Fi solution to our regional jets is another key investment to modernize our fleet, emphasize innovation and address the evolving needs of our customers,” said Sangita Woerner, Alaska Airlines’ senior vice president of marketing and customer experience.
With satellite Wi-Fi, you can stream, surf and chat onboard using the Internet in the same way you’re used to when you’re ashore. You can enjoy content from your favorite services, such as Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and TikTok, on your personal devices. Another advantage: on satellite Wi-Fi enabled aircraft, you can connect from the moment you board instead of waiting for the connection to activate after the gate closes; it’s seamless gate-to-gate connectivity.
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