American is to introduce high-speed Wi-Fi on the regional aircraft operated on its behalf.

The airline is working to extend its relationship with Intelsat with the plan that will cover around 500 planes. Rollout will start in early 2024 and is expected to take two years to complete.

American currently makes high-speed Wi-Fi available on more than 900 mainline aircraft, with the objective to bring the total number of satellite-connected aircraft to more than 1,400 once the planned updates to regional aircraft are complete.

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Intelsat’s Electronically Steered Array (ESA) antennae is multi-orbit, interoperating on both Intelsat’s family of geo-stationary satellites and on a constellation of Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, providing low latency high-speed internet connection to the airline’s customers.

In a release on the subject, the airline said: “This new technology will allow these regional aircraft to match fast Wi-Fi speeds that are currently available on American’s mainline aircraft. With the planned purchase of this new technology, American is reinforcing its commitment to provide a consistent and connected experience for customers on all of American’s connectivity-equipped flights with the ability to stream, browse, check email and even log onto VPN while inflight”.