Las vigas- Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian announced yesterday at the CES technology show that Delta Air Lines will offer free Wi-Fi on most of its flights in the US starting in February.
Bastian said that by the end of the year, The airline will supply more than 700 aircraft with T-Mobile’s high-speed satellite broadband service. It plans to expand free Wi-Fi to international and Delta Connection flights by the end of 2024. The service will use equipment from Viasat, a US provider of satellite broadband.
“It has always struck me that when we fly, we fly to connect,” Bastian told the Associated Press in an interview. “But when we’re in heaven, we tune it out.”
Many airlines are improving internet access on their planes so passengers can stay connected or stream entertainment on their electronic devices, but they often have to pay for it. New York-based JetBlue Airways offers passengers free Wi-Fibut Delta’s announcement puts it well ahead of its biggest rivals: America, United and Southwest.
“People want to be connected, and the fact that airlines can’t connect in the sky is something I felt we had to figure out,” Bastien said, noting that the rollout of the billion-dollar project had been hastened by disruptions due to the pandemic. In 2020, when most of the airline’s planes have been grounded.
Customers will need an account in Delta’s SkyMiles frequent flyer program, which is free to join, to use the Wi-Fi service. There is no limit to the number of devices passengers can connect to Wi-Fi on board. More than 500 aircraft will receive this free service from February 1.
Delta’s announcement at CES comes after Southwest Airlines canceled 15,000 flights over Christmas and stranded travelers in the United States.
The outages began with a winter storm and multiplied when Southwest’s outdated crew scheduling technology failed.
Bastian declined to comment on his competitor’s problems, but said Delta has “many years” of investment in its scheduling technology.
“And we continue to improve the ability of crews to communicate efficiently with aircraft,” he said.
