Elon Musk Welcomes American Airlines To The Starlink Family

American Airlines shares jumped on Tuesday after the carrier announced a sweeping modernization of its narrow-body in-flight experience, with plans to install Starlink satellite internet terminals across 500 of its narrow-body jets in Q1 2027.

The modernization effort signals the end of slow, unreliable internet for a large portion of American's domestic and short-haul fleet. Passengers will soon be able to stream, work, monitor markets via the Bloomberg Terminal, or check X in real time at speeds far beyond current in-flight internet speeds.

Elon Musk welcomed American Airlines to the Starlink family earlier on Tuesday.

Starlink coming to American Airlines! 💫 https://t.co/XC3EasJKdy

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 26, 2026

Starlink is becoming a leading airline internet provider, with deals already in place at United, Southwest, and Alaska Air:

"Starlink is widely regarded as the world's most advanced satellite constellation using a low Earth orbit to deliver broadband internet capable of supporting inflight streaming, online gaming, collaborative meeting tools and more," American wrote in a press release, adding, "With thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit, Starlink can deliver multigigabit connectivity to aircraft using its Aero Terminal, which can support up to 1 Gbps per antenna."

Shares of AAL jumped nearly 6% in late-afternoon trading. Year to date, shares are marginally lower by around 4%.

Some airline passengers are already prioritizing bookings with carriers that offer Starlink, as fast, reliable in-flight internet becomes a deciding factor for streaming, gaming, or simply remote work at 36,000 feet.

The announcement comes just weeks before SpaceX is set to IPO. Read the latest here.