summary
- Delta Air Lines delays rollout of free Wi-Fi to 2025.
- By the end of 2024, more than 90% of Delta’s available seat miles will offer free Wi-Fi.
- WiFi issues onboard Boeing 767 aircraft will cause a two-month outage on some aircraft.
Delta Air Lines on Monday provided an update on its process to equip its aircraft with free Wi-Fi across its fleet. Pushing back its original goal of rolling out the service by the end of this year, the Atlanta-based carrier now expects the service to be complete by next year.
It’s called airline WiFi. “Industry-leading initiatives” It was first announced in 2023. It is expected to be an innovative service that will allow passengers to connect to the Internet compared to the current WiFi offered by competitors. “Just like home.”
“Towards 2025”
Despite the delays, Delta Air Lines said it expects most aircraft in its fleet to be able to implement the new service by the end of the year.
“Delta expects the majority of its customers to have access to high-speed, free Wi-Fi by the end of 2024, with some remaining regional and international flights coming online by 2025. Our teams work hard to ensure we have the best Wi-Fi, the technology in place to reliably deliver the experience our customers expect, at scale, across our network. .”
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With more than 650 mainline aircraft already equipped with the service, America’s legacy airlines have achieved most of their original goals. According to this number, Delta expects that by the end of 2024, total new WiFi-unavailable seat miles (ASM) will be just 10%.
“…Delta expects free Wi-Fi to account for more than 90% of total available seat miles (ASM) by the end of 2024.” The carrier explained. ”Connectivity at this scale remains unparalleled in the industry. ”
regional jet too
The airline said one WiFi device was installed on each aircraft. Upgrades will also be made to the Boeing 717 aircraft as engineers work to outfit the remaining aircraft. The equipment will also be provided to more than 400 regional jets operated by Delta’s wholly-owned subsidiary Endeavor Air, or contract carriers Republic Airlines and SkyWest Airlines.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
Last November, the company announced that installation of WiFi equipment on regional aircraft would begin in mid-2024. Across three subsidiaries, the airline’s regional brand, Delta Connection, operates the Bombardier CRJ700, CRJ900, Embraer E170, and his E175. On Monday it was confirmed that the first regional aircraft will be introduced to the new service later this year.
Overall, the majority of flights that don’t yet have high-speed, free internet include routes to regional airports and international destinations. Still, the airline insisted that passengers will start to notice the comfort next year.
767 WiFi outage
Amid its progress, Delta Air Lines recently faced headwinds from typhoons. “Technical issues” According to PaxExAero, on its 767 aircraft. It’s unclear whether the issue involves the airline’s 767-300ER or -400ER aircraft, but a spokesperson said Tuesday that WiFi will be disabled on some aircraft for two months.
“We are temporarily disabling Wi-Fi equipment on some Boeing 767 aircraft until the technical issue is resolved. We are working with our inflight connectivity supplier to ensure that Wi-Fi equipment is available on all affected aircraft by May 2024. We expect to have high-speed streaming connections restored by the beginning of the month. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”
Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Simple Flying
The majority of the airline’s 767s fly internationally. However, they are also regularly deployed on transcontinental and transpacific routes.
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