> I'm confused by that move - why make it free when they could easily charge their captive audience for it?

My understanding is that it's actually a condition of using Starlink for commercial aviation. Every other airline that's announcing a partnership with Starlink is also providing it for free to customers.

IMO, it's a way for Starlink to put pressure on other satellite internet providers. The utilization of free wifi will be way higher than paid wifi. And the other networks - be it OneWeb, Viasat, Hughesnet, etc. don't have as much available bandwidth.

Next step is of course stop paying studios for movie licenses. Bring your own device and watch your own content, in 480p - bandwidth for full HD/4k is, naturally, extra.

Ultimately they might get away with ripping out the whole entertainment system out of the plane altogether for another .1% increase in efficiency.

Starlink doesn't seem to offer that much bandwidth.

they have a scarce resource - sounds like a perfect opportunity to make some money by selling it!

It's enough if you shape traffic appropriately

...and once they have ripped out the entertainment systems, then they will start charging for the internet connection again!

Strangely enough, I saw a promo on my United flight the other day that their latest cabin refreshes feature screens in every seatback. I thought airlines were going in the other direction.

Hook. And imagine the targeted ad revenue - where else do you have people with different spending powers strapped to a seat with nowhere to go? You have already given the flight operator your verified identification. Amazing new opportunity for data resellers.

making it free adds competitive pressure - other airlines might not have the available float to start adding it to theirs. This makes qatar airlines better, and thus attract more customers.