Flexjet to replace Viasat GEO inflight connectivity with SpaceX LEO

Fractional ownership powerhouse Flexjet plans to replace the Viasat GEO satellite-based inflight connectivity hardware found on select aircraft within its fleet with SpaceX’s Starlink Aviation IFC system, which transmits via the satellite operator’s Ku-band Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites.

“Once Starlink is installed on an aircraft it becomes the primary connectivity solution,” a Flexjet spokeswoman reveals to Runway Girl Network. “The performance of Starlink is exceptional and given the global capability of the system, there is no need to maintain any of the legacy solutions.”

Laying claim to being the “first shared ownership jet travel provider” to adopt Starlink Aviation, Flexjet is initially introducing the solution on its Gulfstream G650s, as the kit — inclusive of the Starlink phased array antenna — has received supplemental type certification on the aircraft type.

“Once work to install the antennas on the Gulfstream fleet is completed, work would begin to certify and install the technology [on] Flexjet’s super-mid (Praetor 600 and Challenger 350/3500), mid (Embraer Praetor 500) and light jet (Phenom 300) fleets,” it says.

Viasat and Flexjet in 2021 entered a partnership to bring Viasat’s Ka-band IFC to Flexjet’s Praetor 600 fleet which operates transatlantic and domestic European routes. At that time, Flexjet said its Bombardier Global and Gulfstream G450 and G650 fleets would also will be equipped with Viasat’s Ku-band IFC service, enabling “a path to transition these aircraft to Viasat’s Ka-band system in the future”.

RGN sought additional colour from Flexjet as to whether the reflector deployment anomaly being experienced by Viasat on its new ViaSat-3 Americas satellite — and indeed the overall delay to the ViaSat-3 program — factored into its decision to select Starlink. “No, it did not,” says the Flexjet spokeswoman.

In a published statement, Flexjet says the arrangement with Starlink will ensure that its aircraft owners’ inflight Wi-Fi access “for the first time will align with service expectations they would have in their boardroom”.

Passengers, it says, “will be able to access the Internet as soon as they board the aircraft, rather than waiting until they reach a certain altitude. Nor will they lose access as the aircraft descends from its cruising altitude, unlike other aviation Internet providers today. This consistency will ensure that, for example, business video calls, and streaming movies are not disrupted in-flight or on the ground.”

The introduction of Starlink is the culmination of an 18-month process that included an industry-wide technology evaluation followed by a close collaboration between Flexjet, Nextant Aerospace (Flexjet’s engineering arm) and Starlink.

Flexjet, which recently opened futuristic new headquarters, may be the first fractional specialist to adopt Starlink, but Part 135 operator JSX has already installed the Starlink kit fleet-wide on its Embraer ERJs.

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