American Airlines Free Wi-Fi Begins Rollout This Week

by Anthony Losanno
American A321

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Back in April, I wrote about how American Airlines would be launching free AT&T Wi-Fi in January 2026 for its AAdvantage® members. This eventually will be offered on all of American’s aircraft that are equipped with either Viasat or Intelsat connectivity. While this represents around 90% of the fleet, it does not include many of American’s wide-body aircraft. American says that it will cover around two million flights next year and testing has been underway for a launch this Tuesday, January 6th.

American Free Wi-Fi

American has been quietly testing free Wi-Fi sponsored by AT&T. American’s AAdvantage® members have had access to the complimentary service on specific flights during testing, but only found out about it after they boarded certain flights.

When it comes to in-flight Wi-Fi, American is by far the most expensive and uncompetitive. Frequently, I have seen rates of $15, $19, or even $35 for a flight. Delta offers free, fast Wi-Fi for SkyMiles® members and United charges its MileagePlus members a consistent $8 (this will be become free once United fully rolls out its partnership with Starlink).

Anthony’s Take: This is exciting news and I can’t wait for American to fully roll out free Wi-Fi. Paying for it seems a bit archaic given what Delta and United are currently offering (or planning to offer soon).

(Image Credits: American Airlines.)

(H/T: One Mile at a Time.)

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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.

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