Delta scores a small win in the airline WiFi wars

Delta Air Lines has faced an onslaught of criticism for its lack of Starlink internet, but its current free WiFi service is getting an upgrade this month.

Elon Musk said CEO Ed Bastian should lose his job over his decision to tap Amazon Leo, with installation starting in 2028, instead of Starlink.

United Airlines also took aim at its rival by offering loyalty program status matches.

Its offer said, “Don’t keep buffering: switch to United and get the fastest WiFi in the sky.” However, there may be some flights where Delta’s WiFi is the cream of the crop.

United was one of the first airlines to sign up for Musk’s satellite internet service, back in 2024.

Since then, it has been installing Starlink terminals on its airplanes at a fairly impressive rate, but there is still a way to go.

In an announcement on Thursday, United said Starlink is now equipped on more than 40% of its fleet.

It has over 1,600 airplanes, including mainline aircraft and regional ones operated by United Express partners.

It hopes that all its airplanes will have Starlink by the end of next year.

But for long-haul flights, passengers are likely to be out of luck.

Only six of its 244 wide-body airplanes have Starlink.

While United flies some narrow-body airplanes to Europe, it uses wide-body airplanes to carry passengers from the US mainland to Asia.

Its Boeing 787-9s are still awaiting Federal Aviation Administration certification before Starlink can be used on them.

Delta currently uses Viasat’s internet service.

Unlike Starlink’s constellation of over 10,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, Viasat uses geostationary satellites.

These orbit roughly 22,000 miles above the equator, rather than a few hundred miles above Earth.

That greater distance can add latency, while available capacity varies by region.

However, Viasat says its latest satellites, VS-3, are designed to add over 1 terabit per second of capacity to its network.

F3, the third satellite in this constellation, launched in April on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

It is used for connections in the Asia-Pacific region, including Delta’s transpacific flights.

The airline’s website says its free Delta Sync WiFi service is coming online this month for Pacific routes.

Some travelers have been posting on X singing its praises. “As of today you will get much faster WiFi speeds on Delta aircraft than United aircraft if flying transpacific,” Ben Bearup posted on Tuesday.

His posts about aviation and business have gained him nearly 9,000 followers.

It appears to be a small win for Delta in the airline WiFi wars, but United’s pace in installing Starlink suggests it will maintain the upper hand before Amazon Leo comes online.