Delta Air Lines made an exciting announcement when it comes to Wi-Fi on board today, which leaves the airline a step closer to offering free connectivity.
Delta will offer Viasat Wi-Fi on more than 300 aircraft
In June 2020, it was announced that Delta would withdraw its exclusive contract with Gogo for Wi-Fi on board (Gogo’s commercial aviation division is now owned by Intelsat) and would instead make purchases. Now we are seeing the results of that.
From the summer of 2021, Delta will begin installing the Viasat Wi-Fi on its narrow-body aircraft:
- The first planes to obtain Viasat Wi-Fi are A321s, 737-900ERs and selected 757-200s.
- The plan is for more than 300 mainline narrow-body aircraft to feature Viasat Wi-Fi, with opportunities for additional aircraft to feature Viasat in the future
Delta’s A321s will be among the first planes to obtain Viasat Wi-Fi
Why Delta is moving to Viasat
In 2019, Delta made clear its intention to work to offer free Wi-Fi on board to all passengers. Delta has been offering free messages to all passengers since 2017, but the airline wants to take it a step further and offer free high-speed connectivity on board at no cost.
Delta in general invests more in its experience on board than American and United, so it is not surprising to see that this is an area where Delta is also leading.
There was only one major problem – after some tests, it became clear that the Gogo 2Ku Wi-Fi Delta installed in plans simply doesn’t have the bandwidth to support free Wi-Fi for everyone. After all, usage increases significantly when Wi-Fi is free.
With Gogo apparently unable to meet Delta’s needs, the airline started looking elsewhere, which is where Viasat comes into play. JetBlue offers Viasat Wi-Fi and is able to offer free connectivity to all passengers, so that’s clearly what Delta is also looking for.
Delta hopes to eventually offer free Wi-Fi to everyone
Does this mean that Delta will offer free Wi-Fi soon?
Even with the introduction of Viasat Wi-Fi, we should not expect Delta to offer free nighttime connectivity. The airline is still working on this, but Delta will initially continue to charge for Viasat Wi-Fi.
I think that’s completely fair – if nothing else, it creates an inconsistent customer experience for offering free Wi-Fi on one flight, but not the next. That said, I take Delta literally when it states that the goal is still free connectivity on board in the long run. Clearly, this is the main motivation for Delta to make the switch here.
Delta will still initially charge for Wi-Fi on planes equipped with Viasat
Result
Beginning in the summer of 2021, Delta is making the gradual transition from Gogo 2Ku to Viasat for more than 300 narrow-body aircraft. This is a step in the right direction towards Delta’s goal of eventually offering free on-board connectivity to all passengers.
Viasat Wi-Fi offers significantly better speeds and bandwidth than Gogo 2Ku, so I hope it will continue to move in the right direction.
What do you think of Delta’s transition to Viasat Wi-Fi?