Delta Air Lines Free Inflight Wi-Fi Launching Soon

There is no denying that inflight internet has improved a lot. Inflight wi-fi was introduced first. The speed of inflight wi-fi has improved so that it is comparable to the ground. Making inflight wi-fi free has become the focus lately.

Delta is rumored to be the first US airline to offer free inflight wi-fi. Delta management has been discussing this for a long time.

Delta will offer free inflight Wi-Fi “soon”

Delta has revealed some information about the progress of free inflight wi-fi in an internal memo.

• Delta plans to launch complimentary Wi-Fi on all domestic mainline flights “soon” (unfortunately regional jets won’t get this free service)
• Delta plans to launch complimentary Wi-Fi on international routes by the end of 2024

Delta has been offering free inflight messaging for a long time now, but the intent is that free inflight wi-fi will allow passengers to enjoy unlimited internet access for the entire flight.

Delta is testing free inflight wi-fi on some flights. We should expect this to be added to all Delta jets in the near future. Things seem to be moving along nicely even though we don't have an exact date.

Why it has taken Delta time to launch free inflight Wi-Fi

Delta has been talking about free inflight wi-fi for a long time. Technology is what comes down to it. The system being used at the time couldn't support the increased usage when there was no cost to use the service. The ground has more bandwidth than 35,000 feet.

Delta knew that it wouldn't work in the long run if they wanted to provide free wi-fi. Delta was going to switch to Viasat. Good progress has been made with the installation of Viasat on the mainline jets.

It is more realistic for Delta to offer free wi-fi with Viasat since they use the same system as JetBlue.

Expect American to offer free Wi-Fi as well

There is a lot of copying between airlines in the United States. There have been rumors that American will follow Delta's lead and offer free wi-fi.

There shouldn't be too many technological limitations because American has Viasat installed on most of its jets. I think it is a sure bet that it will happen one day. It is likely that it will happen around the same time that Delta introduces it.

The carrier has the least free wi-fi of the three airlines.

Bottom line

We don't have an exact date, but it's expected that Delta will roll out free wi-fi on all mainline narrow body jets by the end of the year. I think Delta will roll this out by the fall.

It is exciting to think that some global US carriers will soon offer free wi-fi.

Do you think Delta will offer free inflight wi-fi?