If there’s one thing people complain about when flying, it’s that the food sucks. If there are two things people complain about, it’s that the food sucks and the internet is almost as bad.
This year, Ookla, one of the most used internet speed test companies, tracked multiple airlines to see which ones had sky-high speeds and which ones plummeted. The tests looked for two things: what percentage of planes for the most-used airlines could achieve “good internet speeds,” and how fast they actually are.
For the percentage test, Ookla compared airlines by the number of planes that could reliably hit 25Mbps download and 3Mbps upload speeds. According to Ookla, 20-40Mbps speeds are considered “good,” capable of doing either 4K streaming or online gaming.
Overall, Canada’s largest airlines, Air Canada and WestJet, scored really well in the first category. Over 80 per cent of Air Canada planes are fitted with good internet speeds, while WestJet has over 90 per cent with good internet speeds.
Image credit: Ookla
What truly separates the two airlines is just how fast their respective internet speeds can be. While Air Canada has a respectable — for air travel — download speed of approximately 55Mbps, WestJet blows that number out of the water with median speeds of 252Mbps. The main difference? Air Canada uses Intelsat, while WestJet uses Starlink (as do many other top-performing airlines).
Notably, WestJet has leapfrogged Air Canada’s in-flight Wi-Fi performance. Compared to a similar report from Ookla last year, Air Canada’s internet speeds haven’t changed much, while WestJet jumped considerably from a median download speed of just 38.89Mbps in 2025.
Starlink began deploying its system on planes in 2022 to provide better internet connectivity for many airlines. With eight out of the nine airlines in the speed test (the exception being Air Canada) using Starlink in some capacity, it’s safe to say the 10-hour international flight internet quality looks to be improving, giving passengers a better travel experience.
WestJet worked with Telus to supply Starlink satellite internet service to its planes, starting in 2024 and continuing through last year. In September, WestJet said it aimed to complete the new Wi-Fi installations on all of its Boeing 737-800 and Max-8 aircraft by the end of 2025.
Meanwhile, MobileSyrup editor-in-chief Jon Lamont tested out Air Canada’s upgraded in-flight Wi-Fi last year, reporting basically the same speeds that Ookla found in its testing.
Header image credit: Shutterstock
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