WestJet launches Wi-Fi service powered by Elon Musk's Starlink

WestJet launches Wi-Fi

Photo: The Canadian Press

An Air Canada flight departing for Toronto, bottom, taxis to a runway as a Westjet flight bound for Palm Springs takes off at Vancouver International Airport, in Richmond, B.C., on Friday, March 20, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

WestJet says it has launched an on-board Wi-Fi service powered by Starlink, the satellite internet technology made by Elon Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX.

In an email, the airline says it now offers free Wi-Fi on 16 of its nearly 140 planes following federal certification.

Spokesman Josh Yeats says WestJet plans to complete hardware installations on its narrow-body fleet by the end of this year and on its wide-body aircraft before 2027.

The higher-speed connectivity comes as controversy around Musk grows, thanks to his close ties to U.S. President Donald Trump as well as recent expressions of support for far-right groups, prompting some online backlash to WestJet's move.

Carriers including United Airlines and Air France have also partnered with Starlink, while more than half of Canada's provincial and territorial governments buy critical internet and emergency communications services from it — though unease with the Musk connection has grown in communities stretching from northwestern Ontario to Newfoundland and Labrador.

WestJet, which first activated the speedier Wi-Fi earlier this month, says it chose Starlink in a multi-year agreement between the two parties and Telus that was announced in July after a competitive bidding process that began in 2023.