Inflight Wi-Fi is coming to many more Hawaii routes

Staying connected to the internet on flights to Hawaii will now be possible on many more jets.

That’s thanks to Viasat’s third-generation F1 satellite, which was activated for commercial use Monday. One of the biggest improvements with the new satellite is that it provides long-awaited coverage on routes from the mainland to Hawaii.

Going forward, any Viasat-equipped plane flying from the mainland to Hawaii will now have access to a satellite signal and internet connection.

Want more airline-specific news? Sign up for TPG’s free biweekly Aviation newsletter.

Historically, passengers flying on planes with Viasat antennas could not connect to the internet after leaving the coverage area above the continental U.S.

For some travelers, that’s been reason enough to travel on planes equipped with internet providers with global coverage, such as Panasonic. However, in the U.S., Panasonic internet service is largely limited to long-haul, wide-body jets flying for American Airlines and United Airlines.

While these carriers do sometimes deploy twin-aisle jets on select high-profile Hawaii routes, the majority of the mainland U.S.-to-Hawaii routes are operated by single-aisle planes that don’t feature Panasonic.

In fact, American, Delta Air Lines, United and Southwest Airlines all fly jets to Hawaii equipped with Viasat antennas that previously didn’t work on those particular flights.

The new Viasat satellite was tested over the first half of the year, and the provider was seemingly happy enough with the results to activate the enhanced service.

Daily Newsletter

Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter

Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG’s experts

Get online: Score free and discounted inflight Wi-Fi with these credit cards

While Viasat has been talking about the third-generation satellite for quite some time, last year’s ViaSat-3 launch ran into major technical issues as the satellites were launched into orbit.

Viasat wasn’t initially sure whether the new satellites would be salvageable, but the company said:

“Extensive in-orbit testing demonstrated that all other systems on the satellite were operating at or beyond expectations. And while the antenna deployment anomaly resulted in a significant reduction in overall capacity, the resiliency and high-performance specifications of the ViaSat-3 satellite system still allows the satellite to support high-speed broadband services for aviation customers over North America, where the satellite is deployed.”

At the bottom of this story, you’ll find a complete breakdown of mainland-to-Hawaii flights by internet provider. Note that aircraft substitutions can always occur, and the data is based on Cirium schedules for flights scheduled for August 2024.

If connectivity is a must, check with your airline before your flight to ensure that your plane features connectivity over Hawaii.

Going forward, United will be the only carrier that doesn’t offer Wi-Fi on all Hawaii routes, as some of its jets still feature Thales satellites that only work over the continental U.S.

Note that Hawaiian Airlines is in the process of installing free high-speed Starlink Wi-Fi across its fleet, which will work on all routes to the U.S. These retrofits are expected to be completed by the end of the year.