American Airlines frequent flyers rejoice! Free Wi-FI is finally here. The Fort Worth based carrier has officially launched the service, sponsored by AT&T, as of January 6, 2026. However, not all planes are equipped just yet and American indicated that it wouldn’t actually be turned on until January 8, with the rollout taking a few months.
American Rolls Out Free Wi-Fi on All Narrowbody and Two Cabin Regional Jets
Beginning today, 100% of American’s narrowbody mainline fleet and all dual-class regional jets are were supposed to be equipped with free Wi-Fi. Members of the carrier’s AAdvantage loyalty program can use the free service, which is sponsored by AT&T. Non-members will still have to pay for Wi-FI onboard. Clearly this is meant to encourage sign-ups for AAdvantage, which is free.
According to the carrier, it will operate more than 2 million flights equipped with fast, free, satellite based Wi-Fi this year. Heather Garboden, American’s Chief Customer Officer, said this about the launch of free Wi-Fi onboard:
“As American celebrates 100 years of delivering industry firsts, including the first loyalty program and first airport lounge, we’re setting the standard for connectivity in the skies. Free high-speed Wi-Fi isn’t just a perk — it’s essential for today’s travelers. That’s why we’re proud to begin rolling out this new offering, sponsored by AT&T, across the majority of our fleet. Once roll out is completed, every AAdvantage member can stay connected, stream and share almost anywhere their journey takes them for free.”
In addition to the narrowbody and two cabin regional jets, some newly delivered American Airlines Boeing 787s are also equipped with free Wi-Fi as of today according to the carrier. Unfortunately, passengers quickly noticed that they were still being charged for Wi-Fi on flights on and after January 6.
Gary Leff from View from the Wing, reached out to American via Twitter/X to get an explanation and the response was far from the picture painted in the press release. According to an American representative, all narrowbody jets will have the service operational by the end of January while two cabin regional jets may take until March to come online.
American hasn’t provided specifics regarding the official timeline for equipping its remaining aircraft with free Wi-Fi but, given what we’ve seen so far, it may be a while. In the press release the carrier mentions that “almost all” flights will be offering free Wi-Fi to AAdvantage members as of early Spring 2026 but we now know that it may take that long just to get all of the planes that were supposed to have it in early January up and running.
My Thoughts
This would be a great development if the rollout had been handled better. Getting free Wi-FI onboard is long overdue as American has lagged behind its competitors in this space. Delta has offered free Wi-FI onboard the majority of its flights for some time, thanks to the installation of Viasat Wi-Fi and United is currently deploying free Starlink Wi-Fi on its planes. Even Southwest began offering free Wi-Fi to its Rapid Rewards members.
Historically American didn’t even offer free inflight messaging, aside from its partnership with T-Mobile, which was something Delta and United both offered prior to their free Wi-Fi rollouts. Now, with the T-Mobile partnership ended, it seems that there will be a dead period for AAdvantage members who were looking forward to free Wi-Fi onboard
American is making a push to become more premium but things like this erode some cinsumer confidence in the product that they will be offered once they step onboard.
While I don’t think they will start installing seatback IFE on its narrowbody jets anytime soon, the addition of free Wi-Fi should greatly improve the passenger experience, once they get it up and running.
Summary
As of January 6, 2026, American Airlines is introducing free Wi-Fi for AAdvantage members traveling on its narrowbody and two cabin regional jets. However, the rollout of the service is not going as well as expected.
American has indicated that it may take until March to get all of its narrowbody and two cabin regional jets online. This is a far cry from what was in the press release and puts American’s ability to have “almost all” of its planes equipped with the offering, including some widebodies, in early spring.