Tuesday Earnings Call That Some Airline Customers Are Choosing Shorter Flights With Layovers Over Direct Routes to Ensure They Fly on Planes

In fact, we heard from one of our airline customers, shockingly, customers are flying shorter hop flights instead of direct, so that they could ensure that they're on a Starlink-activated flight, Shotwell said. They'd never seen this in the business before. YouTuber MrBeast echoed the sentiment on a podcast earlier this year, saying he would book flights based on Starlink access even if it meant an extra layover.

Business Insider contacted 13 airlines with Starlink agreements, but none confirmed Shotwell's account; a Southwest spokesperson suggested she was referring to another carrier, and Alaska Airlines declined to comment. SpaceX also announced a new agreement with American Airlines to equip 500 planes with Starlink, plus partnerships with Southwest, Virgin Atlantic, Iberia, and Aer Lingus. The company reported $7.8 billion in quarterly revenue, up 92% year over year, with a net loss of $541 million.

Shotwell outlined plans to turn Starlink Mobile into a full carrier, while CEO Elon Musk defended nearly $16 billion in quarterly AI spending and floated ambitions including space data centers and lunar factories. SpaceX shares fell after hours and are down about 30% since its June IPO.