American Selects Starlink for In-Flight Wi-Fi

The carrier will begin installations on narrowbody aircraft in 2027.

Zach Vasile

Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at 12:00 PM ET

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Ryan Ewing

An American A321neo. (Photo: Shutterstock | Robin Guess)

American Airlines on Tuesday became the latest air carrier to partner with SpaceX’s Starlink for in-flight wireless internet service.

American said it will install Starlink antennas on 500 narrowbody aircraft starting in the first quarter of 2027. That total includes newly arriving Airbus A321XLRs and A321neos.

“American is committed to elevating every aspect of our customers’ travel journeys, which in the air means keeping them connected and comfortable with the assurance they won’t have to download documents ahead of a flight or worry about lag time,” American Chief Customer Officer Heather Garboden said in a news release. “Starlink’s high speed and low latency make the Wi-Fi more reliable, which matters when customers are trying to load pages, join real-time collaboration tools, or stay connected consistently throughout a flight.”

Starlink uses a constellation of thousands of low-Earth-orbit satellites to provide high-speed internet to subscribers. The service allows airline passengers to browse, shop, work, game, and stream content much as they would at home.

American did not say if or when its widebody aircraft will be connected.

Over two dozen airlines have signed contracts with Starlink for in-flight Wi-Fi, including United, Southwest, Alaska Airlines, Emirates, British Airways, and Qatar Airways.

Delta has partnered with Starlink competitor Amazon Leo.

Zach Vasile

Zach Vasile is a writer and editor covering news in all aspects of commercial aviation. He has reported for and contributed to the Manchester Journal Inquirer, the Hartford Business Journal, the Charlotte Observer, and the Washington Examiner, with his area of focus being the intersection of business and government policy.

U.S. Adds Ebola Screening at Two More Airports

U.S. citizens and residents who have visited any of three at-risk countries are being checked for signs and symptoms.

Zach Vasile

Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at 10:10 AM ET

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Ryan Ewing

Delta aircraft in Atlanta. (Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock)

The U.S. government is expanding efforts to detect the Ebola virus as an outbreak in central Africa intensifies.

Last week, the CDC temporarily banned foreign nationals from entering the country if they have visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan in the last 21 days. U.S. citizens and residents who have recently been in the DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan were required to enter the U.S. via Washington Dulles, where enhanced Ebola screenings are now taking place.

On Friday, customs officials said passengers traveling from the three designated countries will also be routed to Atlanta and Houston Bush. Enhanced screenings started early Saturday at Atlanta and will come online early Wednesday at Houston.

Over 1,000 confirmed or suspected cases of Ebola have been reported in northeast Congo, with a much smaller number in neighboring Uganda. At least 234 people have died. The outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization on May 16.

So far, no cases have been reported in the U.S., though some American medical staff and aid workers are in quarantine after being exposed to the virus in the Congo.

The resurgence of Ebola – which has a fatality rate between 20% and 90%, depending on the strain – could complicate travel for the FIFA World Cup, which will commence next month. Over one million international visitors are expected to attend matches in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Over the weekend, the White House instructed Congo’s soccer team to isolate in Belgium, where they are currently training.

Zach Vasile

American Pitches New Service at Mainly GA Airport

Under the airline's current proposal, regional flights would start in December.

Zach Vasile

Saturday, May 23, 2026 at 08:00 AM ET

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Ryan Ewing

An American Eagle CRJ-700. (Photo: Shutterstock | Austin Deppe)

American Airlines’ plan to launch regular scheduled service at Naples Airport in Florida drew mixed reactions at a public meeting Thursday as officials overseeing the general aviation-focused facility said they will continue to study the proposal.

According to WZVN-TV, American is looking to add two to three flights per day between Naples and Charlotte, North Carolina, starting in December. The flights would be operated by American subsidiary PSA, using 65-seat Bombardier CRJ-700 aircraft.

Airline officials told the Naples Airport Authority board that there is unmet demand, among both residents and tourists, for more convenient travel options. Many travelers in the area rely on Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers.

Naples Airport is mainly used for general aviation. It has one commercial operator, JSX, which offers seasonal flights to White Plains, New York.

Some meeting attendees agreed with American that regular commercial service in Naples would be more convenient than continuing to rely on Fort Myers. Supporters also pointed to the new jobs that could be created with the arrival of a major carrier.

But others raised concerns about aircraft noise, which they said is already a problem in the neighborhoods around the airport. One woman told WZVN that other airlines could follow American to Naples, transforming the airport into a “regional commercial hub.”

American previously served Naples via American Eagle until pulling out in 2001. US Airways terminated service there in 2003, and Delta, which offered Delta Connection flights via Atlantic Southeast Airlines, withdrew in 2007.

The airport authority said it will continue to evaluate American’s proposal and expects to revisit the matter at its next meeting in June.

Zach Vasile

Alaska Outlines Plans for New Seattle Lounge

The 41,000-square-foot space is expected to open in late 2027.

Zach Vasile

Friday, May 22, 2026 at 04:12 PM ET

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Ryan Ewing

An Alaska Boeing 737 MAX 9. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

Alaska Airlines plans to open a new 41,000-square-foot lounge at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport by late 2027, officials said Thursday.

The lounge will cover two levels in Seattle’s Concourse C, with approximately 700 seats, showers, multiple bars, and dining spaces.

Alaska lounge members, day-pass guests, and eligible first-class passengers will use the main level, while the upper level will be dedicated to international long-haul travelers, specifically suite and lie-flat customers as well as eligible Atmos Titanium members traveling internationally.

The airline said the new, highly amenitized lounge will complement its growing long-haul network at Seattle and align with the introduction of its International Business Class suites. The suites are now available on Boeing 787 service to Seoul, London, and Rome.

Alaska is set to open a new lounge in Portland, Oregon, this summer. It is also aiming to open its first lounge in San Diego and an expanded lounge in Honolulu in 2028.

Zach Vasile

Livery of the Week: Turkish Airlines’ 500th Aircraft

The aircraft was delivered in late 2025.

Vanni Gibertini

Friday, May 22, 2026 at 12:42 PM ET

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Ryan Ewing

Turkish Airlines Airbus A350-900 aircraft in special 500th aircraft livery (Photo: Turkish Airlines)

Editor’s Note: AirlineGeeks is proud to present our ‘Livery of the Week’ series. Every Friday, a team member will share an airline livery, which can be from the past, present, or even a special scheme. Some airline liveries are works of art. The complexity associated with painting around critical flight components and the added weight requires outside-the-box thinking from designers. The average airliner can cost upwards of $200,000 to repaint, creating a separate aircraft repainting industry as a result.

Have an idea for a livery that we should highlight? Drop us a line.

Turkish Airlines has been making strides in recent years, establishing itself as one of the most important competitors in the Europe/Middle East region. With an impressive network of 356 destinations in more than 130 countries, the carrier has been crucial in making its home at the new Istanbul Airport (inaugurated in 2018) the second-busiest airport in Europe with over 84 million passengers in 2025.

Turkish Airlines Airbus A350-900 aircraft in special 500th aircraft livery (Photo: Turkish Airlines)

As the carrier has already expanded its reach to all continents, with flights to Australia being launched at the end of 2024, it is celebrating another important milestone with a special livery dedicated to all its employees. The 500^th aircraft of the fleet, which was delivered at the end of 2025, was repainted with a special livery designed with photographs of 100,000 employees and retirees.

The photos are featured in the rear section of the fuselage, all with a Turkish-Airlines-red background, seamlessly blending with the traditional tailfin displaying the white logo on a red backdrop. The front section of the fuselage shows the inscription “500^th aircraft with over 100,000 employees 15.12.2025.”

The ‘Family’ Aircraft

This aircraft, registered as TC-LHH and named “TK Aile,” which is Turkish for “family,” is the 31^st of the 33 Airbus A350 aircraft currently operated by Turkish. It was delivered on Dec. 15, 2025, as painted on the livery, and entered service on Jan 6, 2026.

Bugün 500. uçağımız, gökyüzüne 500 yazarak her uçuşumuzun arkasındaki emek, tutku ve takım ruhuna bir saygı duruşunda bulunuyor.

Yerden gökyüzüne uzanan bu büyük başarı, #TKAile’nin eseri.

Birlikte nice zirvelere. ✈️ pic.twitter.com/BOqbH1GOOB
— Türk Hava Yolları (@TK_TR) February 12, 2026

Looking for a new airplane model? Head over to our friends at the Midwest Model Store for a wide selection of airlines and liveries.

Vanni Gibertini

Vanni fell in love with commercial aviation during his undergraduate studies in Statistics at the University of Bologna, when he prepared his thesis on the effects of deregulation on the U.S. and European aviation markets. Then he pursued his passion further by obtaining a Master’s Degree in Air Transport Management at Cranfield University in the U.K. followed by holding several management positions at various start-up carriers in Europe (Jet2, SkyEurope, Silverjet). After moving to Canada, he was Business Development Manager for IATA for nine years before turning to his other passion: sports writing.

American Launches Four New Routes to Europe

The carrier is bringing two new destinations into its network, and strengthening service to two others.

Zach Vasile

Friday, May 22, 2026 at 11:41 AM ET

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Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

An American Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

American Airlines on Thursday launched four new nonstop routes to Europe ahead of what is expected to be a busy summer travel season.

The carrier started seasonal service from Philadelphia to Budapest and Prague, and from Dallas/Fort Worth to Athens and Zurich.

Officials said the new connections will bolster Philadelphia’s position as a transatlantic gateway and expand travel options between Texas and Europe.

American has not previously served Budapest or Prague. It already serves Zurich from Philadelphia and Athens from New York-JFK, Philadelphia, Chicago O’Hare, and Charlotte, North Carolina.

The carrier will use Boeing 787-8 aircraft for flights to Budapest and Prague, and a mix of 777-300ERs and 777-200ERs for service from DFW to Athens and Zurich.

American said it recently reorganized its flight schedules at both Philadelphia and Dallas/Fort Worth to more evenly distribute departures throughout the day. The changes are expected to minimize delays, reduce gate changes, and improve baggage handling performance.

This summer, the airline will connect Philadelphia to over 120 destinations worldwide, and Dallas/Fort Worth, its largest hub, to over 230.

American also recently launched flights between Philadelphia and Santiago, Dominican Republic.

Zach Vasile

American to Begin Essential Air Service at Midwest Airport

The carrier will take over from Contour this summer.

Zach Vasile

Friday, May 22, 2026 at 10:08 AM ET

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Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

An American Eagle CRJ-700. (Photo: AirlineGeeks)

The U.S. Department of Transportation this week selected American Airlines to provide Essential Air Service at Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois.

The carrier will take over a single route currently operated by Contour Airlines linking Veterans Airport with Chicago O’Hare. American will start service in August, and its contract will continue through July 31, 2028.

Veterans Airport is located in Williamson County and serves nearby Marion.

According to the DOT, American beat out three other contenders for the contract – Contour, Denver Air Connection, and SkyWest. American’s offer is the most comprehensive and financially competitive, officials said, and community stakeholders, including the city of Marion and the leadership of Veterans Airport, expressed “strong support” for American in letters to the department.

The airline is expected to operate 12 round-trip flights per week between Marion and Chicago O’Hare using 65-seat Bombardier CRJ-700 or Embraer E170 aircraft. It will receive a subsidy of $4.9 million for its first year at Veterans Airport and $5.1 million for its second.

The DOT also extended Contour’s existing contract through Aug. 31 to ensure there will be no gap in coverage.

The EAS program subsidizes air service to small communities and rural areas that otherwise would not be profitable.

Zach Vasile

IATA: European Connectivity ‘Flatlined’ in 2025

The trade group blamed high costs and “regulatory burdens.”

Zach Vasile

Thursday, May 21, 2026 at 05:00 PM ET

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Ryan Ewing

Munich Airport in Germany. (Photo: Shutterstock | manfredxy)

Air connectivity in Europe grew by only 1% in 2025, the International Air Transport Association reported this week.

Across the European Union, 1,281 routes were added last year while 1,127 were canceled, a net gain of 154 connections. At year’s end, the continent’s route network totaled 14,797.

The small increase is below the compound annual growth rate of 1.5% over the last decade, officials said.

“That the European Union (EU)’s air connectivity virtually flatlined in 2025 is no surprise,” Thomas Reynaert, IATA’s senior vice president of external relations, said in a news release. “The regulatory burden is onerous, costs are high, and the EU’s well-documented underlying competitiveness issues have not been seriously addressed.”

Reynaert specifically called out the EU’s consumer protection regulations, which include compensation for passengers whose flights are canceled or delayed for over two hours. The penalties make many marginal routes uneconomical for carriers, he said.

“The flaws of the current regulation have been known but attempts to correct them appear to be doomed to just make them worse,” Reynaert continued. “These are the kind of frustrations that make it more difficult for airlines to grow the connectivity that Europe relies on to power jobs and economic growth.”

As a representative of the world’s airlines, IATA almost always favors deregulation, and on Thursday it encouraged European lawmakers to roll back measures that it said are hurting competition and growth.

The organization said regulators should increase time thresholds for passenger compensation; introduce a book-and-claim process for the purchase of sustainable aviation fuel; allow more flexibility for airport slot relief in periods of crisis; and eliminate national passenger taxes, following the example of Sweden.

The report covers only 2025 and does not factor in recent route cancellations stemming from the surge in jet fuel prices.

Zach Vasile

United Adds Two New Routes

The connections will come online in September and December.

Zach Vasile

Thursday, May 21, 2026 at 03:55 PM ET

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Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

A United 737-800 in San Francisco. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Ben Suskind)

United is expanding its presence at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in Ohio, with two new routes set to launch this fall.

On Sept. 24, the carrier will launch nonstop service between Cleveland and Las Vegas. Flights will operate once per day on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, using Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

Just over two months later, United will connect Cleveland and Miami. Service will run from Dec. 3 through April 5, 2027, with daily flights on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. The connection will also use a 737-800.

“Cleveland is an important market for United, and these flights continue the investment in our route network there by providing the local community with more nonstop and convenient flight options,” Mark Weithofer, United’s managing director of domestic network planning, said in a news release.

United currently links Cleveland with all of its domestic hubs – Chicago O’Hare, Houston, Newark, New Jersey, Denver, Washington Dulles, Los Angeles, and San Francisco – in addition to Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Fort Myers, and Tampa, all in Florida, and Cancun, Mexico.

When the two new routes to Las Vegas and Miami come online, the airline’s capacity at Cleveland will be higher than it has been in over a decade, officials said.

Tickets will be available for purchase on Thursday.

Zach Vasile

Alaska Starts Service to London

Flights will operate once daily, year-round.

Zach Vasile

Thursday, May 21, 2026 at 01:39 PM ET

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Ryan Ewing

Alaska Boeing 787 Dreamliner. (Photo: Alaska Airlines)

Alaska Airlines on Thursday launched a new nonstop connection between Seattle and London Heathrow.

Service will operate daily year-round going forward, officials said. The carrier is using Terminal 3 at Heathrow.

London is Alaska’s second destination in Europe, behind Rome, which the carrier began serving in April. Another transatlantic connection, to Reykjavík, Iceland, will come online May 28.

The carrier is using Boeing 787 Dreamliners for the routes to London and Rome, and a 737 MAX 8 for service to Reykjavík.

“For our guests in the U.S., we’re opening more convenient access to Europe with the airline they know and love, and for our guests in Europe and beyond, we’re bringing our signature West Coast hospitality to every step of the journey, reflecting the comfort and care we’re known for,” Alaska Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Harrison said in a news release.

Alaska announced new routes to Asia and its first-ever connections to Europe last year as it took possession of Hawaiian Airlines’ 787s.

Zach Vasile