The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) incorporated in-flight Wi-Fi quality as a benchmark for the airline industry. And perhaps more important is the fact that the category placed last out of 21 benchmarks related to airline travel. It followed categories such as baggage handling, seat comfort, and airline food.

The message, at least at this point, seems to be that people are willing to put up with slow speeds as long as they get where they are going safely and without too much hassle.

The value and expectation of in-flight Wi-Fi is growing, however. The commentary in the report is that in-flight connectivity can be “a key point of differentiation” for customers. It can reinforce the premium brand value that many international airlines aspire to create and is an opportunity to generate revenue from “a literally captive audience.”

The research, done by Ookla, found that in-flight connectivity isn’t seamless. It can be influenced by routes, what airplanes are being used, the service provider, whether connectivity is restricted by governments over some or all of the route, and the fact that old equipment may be used.

The researchers found that in-flight Wi-Fi compares “very poorly” with their experience on terrestrial networks for most travelers. However, the sense of the report is that things are changing.

“[T]he upgrades are happening as many airlines see value and opportunity to provide extended services, along with better Wi-Fi. For example, United Airlines is not just moving its entire fleet to Starlink for better performance, but also to deepen its customer loyalty relationships.”

The report provides a lot of detail and specifics on current providers. It found that Hawaiian Airlines and Qatar Airways are the best performing airlines judged by speed and latency. The researchers said that these airlines use Starlink’s low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity, which improves the in-flight Wi-Fi experience for travelers.

The rest of the top ten are Spirit Airlines, Air Canada, Delta Airlines, Breeze Airlines, American Airlines, Aeromexico, WestJet, and Virgin Atlantic.

The ten with the poorest performance are Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific, Turkish Airlines, Zipair Tokyo, Japan Airlines, Air New Zealand, Southwest Airlines, Finnair, Malaysian Airlines, and Air India.