Delta has done an impressive job lately with improving its inflight Wi-Fi. Not only has Delta installed Viasat Wi-Fi on a majority of its narrow body aircraft, but the airline has also made Wi-Fi free on these jets for SkyMiles members.
With the mainline narrow body fleet mostly retrofitted, the next challenge is introducing better Wi-Fi on wide body jets, as well as on short haul and regional jets. Earlier this year, Delta revealed it would install Viasat Wi-Fi on wide body jets, and we now know what the future holds for regional jets.
In this post:
Delta & Hughes partner on regional jet Wi-Fi
Delta has announced that it’s partnering with Hughes to bring streaming-capable, gate-to-gate Wi-Fi to its regional jet fleet starting in mid-2024. The two companies are expected to partner on installing Wi-Fi on more than 400 aircraft, including the following:
- Boeing 717s
- Embraer E170s/175s
- Canadair CRJ-700s/900s
That includes all Delta Connection aircraft (with the exception of CRJ-200s, which are being retired), as well as some of Delta’s smallest mainline aircraft (Boeing 717s). Once this installation process is complete, it’s expected that free Wi-Fi will be available on all of these aircraft.
Delta should offer free Wi-Fi throughout fleet by end of 2024
Delta remains on track to offer free Wi-Fi throughout its fleet by the end of 2024. As mentioned above, most of the mainline narrow body fleet already has free Wi-Fi. Then over the next year and change, Delta will be focusing on updating Wi-Fi on both its biggest and smallest aircraft, including those aircraft belonging to regional partners.
Once that project is complete, you can expect free Wi-Fi to be turned on across aircraft. While I think Delta is trying to take too much credit for being an industry leader by introducing free Wi-Fi in the first place (JetBlue was a decade ahead of Delta there), the pace at which Delta is retrofitting aircraft with faster Wi-Fi is extremely impressive.
The fact that Delta plans to reconfigure 400 regional jets and Boeing 717s between mid-2024 and the end of 2024 is no small feat, and isn’t a goal that most airlines would take on. Delta also does its best to actually stick to these timelines, rather than that just being some lofty, unrealistic goal.
Bottom line
Delta is partnering with Hughes on high speed Wi-Fi for its regional jets and Boeing 717s. In the second half of 2024, we should see faster Wi-Fi introduced on 400 jets, which is a very fast timeline. At the same time, Delta will introduce Viasat Wi-Fi on its wide body jets.
By the end of 2024, Delta is planning on offering free Wi-Fi throughout its fleet. It’s exciting to think that free Wi-Fi on long haul flights will soon be a reality as well.
What do you make of Delta’s regional jet Wi-Fi plans?
Delta's statement about Wifi leadership is about its size. B6 did it first but has nowhere near the size fleet that DL has and DL is taking it to large regional jets (all that DL has left in its capacity purchase agreements). SQ has rolled it out but obviously has a much smaller fleet. on that note, DL has said coverage over the Pacific is dependent on a new satellite so I would like to...
Delta's statement about Wifi leadership is about its size. B6 did it first but has nowhere near the size fleet that DL has and DL is taking it to large regional jets (all that DL has left in its capacity purchase agreements). SQ has rolled it out but obviously has a much smaller fleet. on that note, DL has said coverage over the Pacific is dependent on a new satellite so I would like to know how well SQ's coverage is over the Pacific.
AA could have done this - they were ahead of DL w/ viasat installations - but they chose to charge for their service.
and Hughes was probably chosen because they could deliver the hardware necessary for 400 more aircraft faster. Given that all of these aircraft - including the 717 - don't have AVOD - the solution is probably not as complex as on other aircraft types.
and I have used DL's Wifi service on full narrowbodies on my laptop. It keeps up.
Problem with free wifi is equally the benefit. Then everyone will be on and the speeds and connections won't be good.
Nice, but very much behind the eight-ball - United has has free wi-fi across it's whole fleet for the last couple of years.
um... not unless you're a T-mobile customer. That's free for you, apparently, but not for most people since T-mobile's market share this quarter is 23.63%. So, for the other 76.37% of people, it's either $8 or $10 per device. Better than it used to be, but not free.
Where did you obtain this figure? T-Mobile is the largest wireless carrier in the continental United States with a market share if 36.61%.
Great news for all delta flyers.
Not sure I’ve seen the names Hughes associated with an aircraft in a few decades. :)
Is this the company’s first foray into aircraft Wi-Fi ?
Hughes was partnered with other companies to provide inflight Wi-Fi, such as Anuvu. I think this is their first time do business directly with an airlines in decades.