If you’ve flown recently, you know that in-flight WiFi can be slow, laggy and unresponsive.

But not anymore.

Hawaiian Airlines has been busy installing super speedy Starlink internet on board their planes.

Recently, they brought me on board a flight from Long Beach to Honolulu to check it out.

How do you know your plane has the upgrade? A sticker on the door lets you know. Look for it before you board.

Then, once you’re on, the internet starts the moment you get to your seat. No need to wait to connect.

Immediately, I did a few speed tests and was super impressed with the results.

I got bursts of speed topping 200 megabits per second, and consistent speeds around 100.

That’s similar to a connection at home.

I was able to stream Netflix, upload and download large files, play Roblox and even stream a Peloton workout (too bad I didn’t have a bike!).

There’s really no need to plan ahead and download anymore. You can just watch what you want on your own streaming services, on demand.

“It is really important for us as a smaller airline to have that distinctive level of service,” said Hawaiian Airlines CEO Peter Ingram. “If you think about the real earliest generations of connectivity on airplanes… the common theme was… it was terrible.”

“This is amazing,” fellow passenger Adriene Xerri told me. She’s been on flights to Hawaii many times as an employee with the travel company Pleasant Holidays.

“Feedback’s been great… both from guests and flight attendants… they’ve really been impressed with the quality of the signal,” said Evan Nomura, Hawaiian Airlines’ director of in-flight entertainment and onboard products.

My take: this internet is so good that in-flight entertainment systems might go by the wayside.

Hawaiian’s CEO told me they will continue to outfit some of their planes with screens so passengers have a choice to bring their own entertainment or watch what’s offered on seatback screens.

Starlink is free… and Hawaiian plans to keep it that way.

“We figured since we were later to the party of providing internet connection on our planes… that we would just jump to offering the very very best and offering if it complimentary and letting the rest of the market try to catch up to us,” said Ingram.

So far, Hawaiian Airlines has outfitted all 18 of its A321neo aircraft with Starlink internet service. Later this year, it plans to expand the service to its fleet of 24 A330 planes and to its new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

Starlink is a game changer up in the air. While there are no data limits and you can connect multiple devices, they do ask that passengers don’t make voice or video calls, or live-stream from their seats, and offensive content is not allowed.

A group of demonstrators, many of whom have lost loved ones to violence, met in San Pedro Sunday alongside the candidate running to unseat Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, to protest what they believe has been a lack of focus by the current administration to bring justice to parents and families of victims who have been murdered.  

Uloma Anyanwu, a nurse, was among dozens of people who turned out for the event, some of them carrying photographs and posters of their loved ones who were killed as they spoke out against the DA. 

Anyanwu told KTLA that she lost her son in March 2022.  

“He went to pick up his girlfriend from an establishment where she worked and, unfortunately, a predator just came to his car and shot him dead,” she said.  

According to Anyanwu, the suspect had three priors and was on probation when the violence occurred and has yet to be arrested.  

“Every day I get up and live my pain,” she said. 

Nathan Hochman, former United States Assistant Attorney General and Mr. Gascón’s competitor for L.A. County District Attorney, was present at the event. Flanked by many of those in attendance, Hochman took the photo opportunity and a swipe at the DA.  

“Our current DA, Gascón, has basically sent a message to these victims that they are not his focus. He is not here today,” Hochman told KTLA. “I am here today to send the clear and unmistakable message that these victims, who have suffered the tragedy of having their children murdered, will be the focus of my administration.” 

KTLA has reached out to Gascón’s office for a response to Hochman’s statement.  

The DA last week made several high-profile announcements, including charges against a convicted felon accused of breaking into the official home of L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, as well as charges against a man that allegedly shot a uniformed L.A. County deputy in the back and murder charges against a 45-year-old homeless man believed to have fatally stabbed a 67-year-old woman in the throat on a Metro train.

With a little more than six months until the Nov. 5 election, the DA’s office was also hit last week with news that one of its top advisors to Gascón, Ethics and Integrity Assistant DA Diana Teran, has been charged by the state attorney general’s office with 11 felony violations.

A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy who served the South L.A. community for ten years died Saturday, authorities said. 

According to a sheriff’s department spokesperson, an ambulance was dispatched to the South Los Angeles station around 4 p.m. on calls of an unresponsive deputy. 

The deputy, later identified as Jonathan Stewart, was pronounced dead at the scene. 

LASD took to social media to mourn the “unexpected passing” and honor the commitment of Deputy Stewart, who joined the department as a custody assistant in 2006.

“Jonathan dedicated a decade serving the South Los Angeles community,” LASD said. “He was respected and highly regarded by his peers and his supervisors for his unwavering commitment.” 

Deputy Stewart worked at the LASD Inmate Reception Center before being transferred to the South L.A. station in 2014, and in 2020, he was promoted to Field Training Officer, a position he held until his passing. 

Deputy Stewart’s cause of death was not released. 

He is survived by his wife and three children.