American Airlines (AAL) announced Tuesday it struck a deal with SpaceX’s (SPAX.PVT) Starlink to equip more than 500 of its jets with Wi-Fi service. The deal makes American the latest carrier to go with the satellite internet provider and comes weeks before SpaceX’s highly anticipated public offering.

American called the deal part of “a sweeping modernization” of its in-flight customer experience, with Starlink’s Aero Terminal capable of delivering up to 1 Gigabit per second per antenna to each aircraft. American said the upgrade will cover its full Airbus narrowbody fleet, including new A321XLR and A321neo deliveries coming in the back half of the decade.

“As a premium global airline, we are continuously seeking out world-class partners like Starlink to deliver what our customers need and want,” American Airlines chief customer officer Heather Garboden said in a statement. “The addition of Starlink solidifies American as a leading airline in keeping passengers connected in flight.”

American Airlines’ stock jumped 6% on the news.

Garboden said Starlink’s low-latency service would end the annoying buffering that continues to plague current-generation satellite-based Wi-Fi, a huge annoyance for business and frequent travelers. Starlink’s vice president of sales, Jason Fritch, said the partnership would deliver “a fully connected experience gate to gate.”

American rival United Airlines (UAL) struck its own Starlink deal in 2024 and has been rolling the service out across its fleet. Hawaiian Airlines (ALK) was first out of the gate, equipping its Airbus widebodies with Starlink in 2024. JetBlue (JBLU) and Qatar Airways are also among the carriers that have signed on.

A noteworthy omission from the list of Starlink clients is Delta Air Lines (DAL). The most valuable airline by market cap is sticking with its current satellite partners, Viasat (VSAT) and EchoStar’s (SATS) Hughes, and is pursuing a rival deal with Amazon’s (AMZN) LEO upcoming satellite service rather than joining the Starlink camp.

While Delta argues that using Amazon’s service is a better fit for its customers and will eventually rival Starlink’s capabilities, this strategy deprives its valuable and upwardly mobile Medallion loyalty members of Starlink, the de facto standard and easily the leading service in the industry.

The latest tie-in with American Airlines comes as SpaceX preps for an IPO expected in June, which could potentially be the largest public debut ever. Starlink, with its profitable land-based and aviation service offerings, has been a central pillar of the company’s pitch to public market investors, accounting for the lion’s share of the company’s financial performance.