Delta Air Lines has reached a milestone in rolling out free inflight internet across its fleet.
On Monday, the Atlanta-based airline announced it had completed a Wi-Fi system upgrade on its 1,000th aircraft.
This is a milestone in Delta’s years-long program to offer free in-flight Wi-Fi to all passengers, a shift that has become a major trend across the airline industry.
As of this week, about three-quarters of Delta aircraft now offer free Wi-Fi to all passengers — as long as they have a Delta SkyMiles number.
This is a major undertaking for the airline.
Delta Air Lines must upgrade all of its Wi-Fi technology to allow more passengers to access the service after usage fees are eliminated.
As of today, Delta SkyMiles members can use free Wi-Fi on most of the airline’s domestic and long-haul international flights.
This includes nearly all of the largest aircraft: Delta Air Lines has completed upgrades to Wi-Fi technology on its Boeing 737, 757 and 767 jets, as well as Airbus A220, A320 family aircraft and A330s.
This week, maintenance crews are completing installation work on the A350 fleet.
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Coming soon: Delta’s smallest plane.
Work on equipping Delta Connection’s regional fleet with upgraded Wi-Fi equipment is about one-third complete, the airline told TPG this week.
Meanwhile, the airline is still awaiting certification for a Wi-Fi upgrade on its smallest mainline aircraft, the Boeing 717.
Delta Air Lines said it expects its global fleet to be equipped with faster, free Wi-Fi sometime in 2026.
Most routes (but not all) are now connected
Although most of Delta’s aircraft are equipped with free Internet, passengers may still encounter some “dead zones” in the air on some long-distance journeys.
Specifically, travelers may experience connectivity issues in the Pacific, particularly the South Pacific, so if you’re flying to Asia or Australia, expect to be without internet for an extended period of time.
Delta expects to be able to connect the entire world “soon” as it waits for its provider (Viasat) to launch more satellites.
On the other hand, the airline told TPG that customers should be able to get uninterrupted connectivity on all flights to Europe, Africa and South America. The same goes for all domestic flights, including flights to Alaska and Hawaii.
The whole industry moves towards free Wi-Fi
Delta first announced plans to provide free in-flight Wi-Fi to Delta SkyMiles members in January 2023.
Since then, all of America’s top competitors have followed in its footsteps.
Earlier this year, United launched its first free Starlink Wi-Fi service for United MileagePlus members, now available on more than half of its regional aircraft and some mainline aircraft.
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In October, Southwest offered free Wi-Fi to Southwest Rapid Rewards members, and American Airlines will offer the same service to its American Airlines AAdvantage members next month.
Alaska Airlines also announced plans to add free Starlink to its aircraft, matching sister airline Hawaiian Airlines.
JetBlue has long been an outlier, offering free “Fly-Fi” service for years.
Related: Which airlines offer free Wi-Fi? complete guide
approaching the finish line
Delta had originally hoped to offer free Wi-Fi updates to its aircraft by the end of 2024.
But after some delays, the airline now appears to be nearing the finish line, with 1,000 aircraft currently in service and around 300 more yet to take off.
Whether it’s newer high-tech seatback screens or free (and fully functional) Wi-Fi, Delta expects passengers will increasingly be able to multitask on flights — watch movies and scroll, just like they would on the couch.
“When you’re at home, you’re watching TV and then checking content on your phone,” said Joseph Eddy, Delta’s director of cabin, inflight entertainment and connectivity. “We are rapidly approaching the consumer approach of consuming on multiple devices simultaneously.”
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