Anyone who has tried to do something as basic as send an email on a long-haul flight knows how it can be such a pain. According to Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson, Starlink is the answer, which led to a surprising response from Elon Musk.
Even in 2026, modern flights make you pay for Wi-Fi, but all you get at most are slowly crawling pages, meaning a simple task could take hours if you need multiple pages to load.
That is why a clip featuring MrBeast praising Starlink’s in-flight internet has been doing the rounds online. The YouTube giant made the comments during an appearance on the Good Guys podcast, hosted by Josh Peck and Ben Soffer.
In the segment shared on X (formerly Twitter), Donaldson argued that once the satellite service becomes more common on commercial planes, it will be a deciding factor when it comes to booking.
Advert
MrBeast even suggested that he would trade comfort and convenience for a stronger connection, prioritizing the ability to stay online over where he sits or how direct the route is.
Elon Musk’s response to the clip fell in line with his usual brand of short and sweet replies, altogether being just one word: “Cool.”
Musk reposted the video after X user Jack wrote: “MrBeast reveals once enough airlines start using Starlink, he’ll only book flights that have it”.
The post includes Donaldson’s remarks in full, with MrBeast saying: “Oh, this flight has an extra hour layover? I don’t care, there’s Starlink. I’ll sit in the back of the plane if it gives me Starlink. I really don’t care, Starlink is amazing”.
Donaldson continued: “Most people listening probably haven't used it, but for reference, when I filmed in Antarctica, the only way to get any signal was Starlink.
“We had this four-hour drive in the middle of Africa. You put Starlink on top of the car, and you get the perfect signal the entire ride.”
While not everyone agrees with MrBeast just yet, Starlink has been embraced on a high level. As noted by The News, Starlink has been adopted by over 40 airlines so far – equipping over 1,000 planes with the means for ‘speed of up to 500 Mbps for streaming calls over the oceans. Passengers on airlines Qatar Airways and United have praised the long-haul performance, while Japan’s ZIPAIR has been part of the service’s Asia rollout.