United Passenger Scores Exit Row To Himself, Streams 5 Football Games At Once On Starlink

Credit: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock Published Oct 4, 2026, 4:05 AM EDT Journalist – Aaron is an aviation and travel journalist with 14 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry. His background spans airport operations, aviation infrastructure, and travel consulting, having worked with global organizations across New Zealand, Europe, and North America. Combining industry expertise with firsthand travel experience across more than 52 countries and five continents, Aaron covers airlines, airports, aviation policy, and the wider travel sector. He is based in Canterbury, New Zealand. His work has been published in Simple Flying and featured by MSN, SAM CHUI Aviation & Travel, EIN News, Pakistan Defence, and Climate Depot. Sign in to your Simple Flying account One United Airlines passenger recently made the most of the carrier's Starlink connectivity to stream not one but five live college football games at once. After scoring an entire exit row to himself, the sports fan had three games on the seatback screens and two more on personal devices on the fold-down tray table. Chase Snyder posted his 'quintuplet' achievement on his X page, which was quickly liked by thousands. It was even picked up by the airline itself, which showcased the feat on its social media page. Chicago-based United first introduced Starlink on select aircraft in March last year. It plans to roll the service out across its mainline fleet, and forecasts around 880 of its planes equipped by the end of the year. Credit: Wenjie Zheng | Shutterstock Snyder was traveling on a recent United flight when he was allocated a seat in the exit row. No other passengers occupied the same row on his side of the aircraft, leaving all three seatback entertainment screens available. Snyder sprang into action and utilized the high-speed onboard WiFi to stream multiple games at once. Despite having all three screens to himself, Snyder used his laptop and tablet to stream two more games. He shared the experience on his social media and has been praised for the move by thousands. United has turned Snyder's actions into an advertisement for its onboard experience, noting that Starlink is a "game-changer" that let the die-hard fan enjoy college football Saturday at 30,000 feet. Starlink To Be Installed On The Entire United Fleet By End Of 2027 Credit: Wirestock Creators | Shutterstock United is forecast to have more than 880 aircraft equipped with Starlink by the end of this year. This is down from earlier projections of more than 1,000 aircraft fitted with the satellite internet service by Musk's SpaceX. In the carrier's Q2 results, United confirmed that more than 450 aircraft were already equipped. By the end of next year, United plans to have all of its aircraft fitted with Starlink. The service is free for passengers and delivers speeds of up to 250 Mbps, which is up to 50 times faster than previous in-flight WiFi. United opted for Starlink over other providers due to its faster and more reliable connection. It provides reliable coverage even over isolated regions or vast oceans, where other traditional in-flight WiFi solutions can fail. For Starlink, its recent earnings suggested that its revenue from airline WiFi accounts for 10% of its total income. United And American Opt For Starlink, While Delta Will Install Amazon Leo Credit: Carlos Yudica | Shutterstock With United on the home stretch for its full deployment of Starlink across its entire fleet of more than 1,100 aircraft by the end of 2027, this would be the first of the Big Three to offer this high-speed onboard connectivity across its complete fleet. The only other US airline to have achieved such a feat is JetBlue, which provides Viasat connectivity from the moment you leave the gate. Fort Worth-based American Airlines is expected to expand its Starlink offering to its entire aircraft fleet, a change from the original plans where it would only be offered on its Airbus family of planes. Delta Air Lines rejected Starlink as the SkyTeam carrier pursues stronger integration with the Amazon ecosystem. There are also suggestions that the carrier wanted to avoid doing business with Elon Musk due to his "reputation." The airline claims it will ultimately gain lower-cost pricing while providing higher bandwidth and additional features such as Amazon Prime, other retail initiatives, and a range of online gaming.