Show HN: Will my flight have Starlink?
Source: Hacker News
Overview
If you’ve been lucky enough to be on a flight with Starlink, you understand the hype—it actually works!
However, its availability on flights is patchy and hard to predict. To help, we built a database of all airlines that have rolled out Starlink (beyond just a trial) and a flight‑search tool to predict it. Plug in a flight number and date, and we’ll estimate the likelihood of Starlink on‑board based on aircraft type and tail number.
You can also look up specific routes to see which flights offer Starlink here: .
How the Query Works
When we answer a query we check three things, in order:
-
Does this airline have Starlink?
Only a few airlines have Starlink right now: United, Hawaiian, Alaska, Air France, Qatar, JSX, and a handful of others. If an aircraft is operated by any other airline we can immediately return “no”. -
Does this aircraft body have Starlink?
Airlines usually publish equipment assignments in advance and are rolling out Starlink body‑by‑body. For example, all JSX E145s have Starlink, while none of Air France’s A320s do. A summary of our data is available at (the live logic includes a few additional rules). -
Does this specific aircraft have Starlink?
If the airline has only partially upgraded a type, we need to identify the exact plane. We do this by looking up the tail number (the “license plate” for the plane). Since tail numbers are usually assigned only a few days before a flight, we calculate the probability that your plane will be one with Starlink enabled.
Data Collection & Normalization
To map tail numbers to Starlink status we relied on online airline enthusiasts who maintain meticulous spreadsheets and forum threads. These sources often get data directly from airline staff enthusiastic about Starlink rollouts, making them reliable and frequently updated.
Our work involved:
- Finding each source
- Normalizing the various formats
- Building a reliable, responsible system to ingest the data
- Integrating it with our other data sources
In short, it’s a data‑normalization problem—similar to challenges I faced while working on financial data systems.
Why Starlink Is a Game Changer
I wrote a blog post explaining why Starlink outperforms other aircraft Wi‑Fi options: . At a high level, its performance is possible because rocket launches have become cheap, enabling a dense constellation of low‑earth‑orbit satellites.
Performance Highlights
- Speed & latency: Comparable to ground‑based broadband in many cases.
- Coverage: Global, with the ability to serve remote routes where traditional air‑to‑ground systems struggle.
Current Best Options
- United regional flights and JSX/Hawaiian in the US are the most reliable for Starlink today.
- Internationally, Qatar offers the best coverage (though not currently active), followed by Air France.
These rankings will evolve as more airlines roll out Starlink, and we’ll keep the database updated accordingly.
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