Inflight connectivity has evolved significantly over the years. Just a few years back, Viasat was viewed as the benchmark for inflight connectivity, whereas today Starlink is taking the spotlight.
The challenge with Viasat is twofold — internet speed expectations have changed, and additionally, there is a limit to the total bandwidth. As more airlines adopt the service (and others make it complimentary for passengers, leading to increased usage), it causes slowdowns for all users.
An exciting update is on the horizon, as we anticipate the most substantial enhancement to Viasat Wi-Fi we’ve seen in years, with passengers on American, Delta, and JetBlue, among others, set to notice a difference.
Viasat’s new F2 satellite set to launch soon
For an extended period, Viasat has been pursuing the activation of its new Viasat-3 Ka-band geostationary satellites. Viasat-3 Flight 2 was launched in November 2025, while Flight 3 followed in April 2026, and they should be operational very soon.
Naturally, several steps need to be completed before these can become active, including obtaining regulatory clearance. Viasat-3 Flight 2 serves the Americas, while Flight 3 caters to the Asia-Pacific region, with the Americas version expected to go live in August 2026. We anticipate network capacity to more than double with these enhancements, contributing an additional terabit per second of capacity.
Thus, while maximum speeds may not drastically change, you can look forward to more consistent decent speeds during peak times.
This is promising news for American, Delta, and JetBlue
American, Delta, and JetBlue are the three U.S. airlines boasting the highest number of aircraft equipped with Viasat Wi-Fi. All three provide complimentary Wi-Fi on Viasat-enabled planes, so to recap:
So indeed, this is promising news for American, Delta, and United. Will Viasat’s improved Wi-Fi match up to Starlink? Absolutely not. However, it should alleviate situations where the connection is just painfully slow, which is regrettably becoming more frequent.
Final thoughts
Viasat is set to receive a substantial increase in network capacity, particularly noticeable in the United States, considering the number of aircraft that utilize Viasat. Viasat was previously very fast, but with the growing usage of the service, speeds have significantly declined. This trend should finally see an uptick in the coming weeks, following the launch of the Viasat-3 Flight 2 satellite.
What are your thoughts on this Viasat advancement?