Delta Air Lines now has Wi-Fi service available throughout nearly every flight — including its longest service to Asia, Australia and the South Pacific.
The Atlanta-based carrier on Tuesday announced it had closed its "last coverage gap" over the Pacific Ocean, thanks to a new satellite that just came online in the last week.
Delta also said it had equipped more than 95% of its planes with the tech to support free Wi-Fi for every customer — a rollout that's expected to wrap up in the next few months.
In a lot of ways, it's a milestone that's years in the making.
Back in early 2023, Delta kickstarted an industry trend when it announced plans to make Wi-Fi service free to all members of its loyalty program.
Most major U.S. airlines have done the same since then.
Yet, despite upgrading Wi-Fi tech across its fleet — and outfitting nearly 1,300 planes with the complimentary service — Delta's on-board internet has drawn plenty of scrutiny, of late.
Starlink snub under microscope
Over the past few weeks, headlines have swirled about Delta's decision not to upgrade its fleet with Starlink service, which today is generally viewed as the fastest Wi-Fi in the sky.
All of Delta's biggest competitors have either begun moving over to Starlink — or plan to.
That includes top rival United Airlines, which has talked up its Wi-Fi in a pointed status match offer meant to tempt longtime Delta flyers to switch their loyalties.
It's probably not the backdrop Delta envisioned in January 2020, when it first laid out its vision of free web-browsing for all.
But the carrier insists it's not falling behind in the increasingly competitive race by airlines to win customers with the promise of home-like internet at 35,000 feet.
"Global full coverage at scale — whether you're on a regional jet or an [Airbus] A350 going to Sydney or Melbourne or Auckland — and having that on almost 1,300 airplanes? That is something that is very unique in today's world," Ranjan Goswami, Delta's chief marketing and product officer, told TPG.
"That's a milestone we have," Goswami added, "that will take others some time to get there."
Delta: Existing Wi-Fi getting major boost
Delta also argues its existing Wi-Fi is getting faster.
The carrier is in the process of moving planes over to Wi-Fi service powered by a new satellite from its top provider, Viasat, which is expected to significantly boost on-board bandwidth — and reduce slowdowns reported by customers earlier this year.
That switchover — which so far has drawn "very positive" reviews, Delta says — is expected to be complete on North and South America flights by Thanksgiving.
Delta is also wrapping up Wi-Fi upgrades on its fleet of regional jets and smaller Boeing 717s.
Together, Goswami says, these changes should offer a noticeably better experience for passengers in the near future.
"You're going to see a demonstrable improvement on overall bandwidth to the airplane," he said. "Those are improvements literally happening right now."
Amazon Leo coming ... instead of Starlink
Beyond that, Delta also has long-term plans to upgrade its Wi-Fi tech further.
Earlier this year, the carrier became the largest in the world to sign on to new service from Amazon, which is designed to offer a web-surfing experience similar to what Starlink users find today.
The downside? It's still unproven.
The other? It won't begin appearing on Delta planes until 2028.
In the meantime, United has already installed Starlink on 43% of its jets, according to a real-time tracker the carrier published last week — itself a sign of how competitive the airline industry's "Wi-Fi race" has gotten.
Alaska Airlines is also about 40% of the way complete with Starlink installations.
And Southwest Airlines last week said it expects to have its whole fleet outfitted with the tech before either of those two carriers.
Each of those airlines plans to offer the service free to members of their loyalty programs, matching the policy Delta once made the industry standard — but with connectivity that will arguably be better than what Delta has today.
'Repainting the Golden Gate Bridge'
Goswami, for his part, says he's "not worried," pointing to Delta's global coverage that virtually guarantees connectivity whether you're flying from Los Angeles to Sydney— or from Atlanta to Dayton.
Of course, United soon will be able to offer the same breadth of connectivity. American, too.
Still, Goswami expressed confidence — not only in Delta's future plans with Amazon — but also in the Wi-Fi network the airline has nearly finished installing.
"It's like repainting the Golden Gate Bridge," he said. "When you finish repainting, you start painting again because you have to start over. But the beauty here is, this is based off of a really solid foundation."
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