Runway Girl

American Airlines plans to fit SpaceX’s Starlink Ku-band Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite-powered IFC to more than 500 Airbus narrowbodies.

“New A321XLR and A321neo deliveries” have been earmarked for Starlink, as part of American’s wider modernization of its Airbus narrowbody fleet, the airline says.

Financial terms have not been disclosed. And it is not immediately clear which variant of American’s Airbus A320 family twinjets will be fitted first. Installs will start in the first quarter of 2027.

American is the fourth US major to adopt Starlink, following full-fleet customers United Airlines and Alaska Airlines, and partial-fleet customer Southwest Airlines. In contrast, JetBlue Airways and Delta Air Lines have selected Amazon’s forthcoming Ka-band LEO satellite-supported IFC solution, Amazon Leo, for a portion of their respective fleets.

A oneworld alliance member, American began a phased rollout of free inflight Wi-Fi early this year. It says Starlink “will enable seamless streaming, browsing and real-time communication capabilities” across its domestic and short-haul international routes.

Full story: https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2026/05/american-pivots-to-starlink-for-500-plus-airbus-narrowbodies/

As non-geostationary satellite services disrupt the inflight connectivity sector, Boeing is providing the necessary specs to enable airlines to retrofit their Boeing twinjets with next-gen IFC. The US airframer also confirms to Runway Girl Network that it’s in talks to expand its linefit buyer furnished equipment (BFE) catalog to meet the evolving IFC needs of its airline customers.

“We’re currently supporting the Starlink antenna and the Stellar Blu antenna” with the Boeing Aerodynamic Shroud — the new fairing that’s designed to accommodate the next generation of electronically steered phased array antennas, Boeing marketing director Steve Jaffe told RGN whilst standing beside a 50% scale model of the Shroud at this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Hamburg.

The Shroud enables up to two electronically steerable antennas (ESAs) to be efficiently integrated with Boeing commercial aircraft, firstly via aircraft retrofits but in time via linefit.

Whereas Starlink is LEO-based and features two ESAs on Boeing aircraft, the multi-orbit Stellar Blu ‘Sidewinder’ ESA from Gilat Satellite Networks supports SES or Panasonic Avionics’ respective LEO/GEO IFC offerings, with the LEO portion powered by Eutelsat OneWeb in both instances.

Full story: https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2026/05/boeing-stays-flexible-to-support-esa-installs-for-next-gen-ifc/

This year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Hamburg was awe-inspiring, with a raft of exhibitors proudly displaying accessible air travel solutions that consider Disabled passengers’ lived experiences.

Whereas accessible solutions went mainstream at last year’s show, AIX 2026 was a true tipping point. After honing their designs based on robust feedback, exhibitors this year positioned accessible innovations front and center on their stands.

Your author, a wheelchair user, can’t shout about it enough. Let’s take a look. Full story by Rocket Girl Coaching - Mary Doyle: https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2026/05/aix-2026-shows-accessible-air-travel-has-reached-tipping-point/

Velis Electro is the world’s first type-certified electric-powered aircraft.

Operated by UK-based Saxon Air, the Velis Electro charges up in what is essentially a car port with a photovoltaic array for a roof.

That means that on this bright spring day we’re literally flying on the power of sunshine.

Flight instructor Miles Riches, also Saxon Air’s head of rotary sales, briefs me on the aircraft, explaining how to get into the small cockpit and close the door.

Like a sports car stripped for outright performance, everything in the aircraft is lightweight, helping to maximize endurance from its batteries. Each door hinges up to a latch under the wing. A sharp tug frees it, and a handle moves three rods to lock it closed.

The rods nestle behind shallow cut-outs in the door frame. I expected draughts and rattles in flight, but the mechanism, like the rest of the airframe, is minimalistic but finely engineered, and there were none.

The thinly-cushioned seats are deceptively comfortable. Batteries occupy the erstwhile baggage space of the piston-powered Velis models, leaving the electric-powered Velis Electro with no space for my laptop bag.

Miles opens the throttle and the propeller turns. He closes it, and the ‘prop’ stops. Since there is no piston engine ticking over or turbine whining at idle, the Velis Electro is silent.

Full report: https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2026/05/saxon-air-pipistrel-velis-electro/