American Airlines will begin offering free Wi-Fi to all AAdvantage customers beginning in January 2026. The complimentary access is sponsored by AT&T, and will finally bring the Fort-Worth-based carrier on par with other U.S. carriers regarding inflight connectivity.
Ahead of this launch, the airline has begun testing free Wi-Fi onboard some flights on Wednesday, according to aviation insider JonNYC.
Passengers will only learn about the free Wi-Fi after boarding, as there will be no pre-flight emails about the complimentary access.
American will use these tests to monitor the speeds and reliability of its onboard Wi-Fi, as a complementary offering requires sufficient bandwidth to handle the higher number of users. The carrier had already been testing free Wi-Fi on various routes at several points this year, to which the airline said it “surpassed performance expectations”.
Although the airline was quick to adopt Wi-Fi across its fleet over the past decade, the cost of onboard connectivity had remained high relative to other carriers in the country. American would routinely charge over $20 for short domestic segments, while rivaling carriers had been charging $8.
Free Wi-Fi will be available on aircraft equipped with Viasat and Intelsat high-speed satellite connectivity, which covers 90% of American’s fleet. The airline’s widebody fleet equipped with Panasonic Wi-Fi won’t see free connectivity.
“We’ve been working diligently to outfit our aircraft with best-in-class high-speed Wi-Fi and together with AT&T are proud to offer those services at no cost to our most loyal customers,” said Heather Garboden, Chief Customer Officer, American Airlines.
Featured image by the author.
