Delta Air Lines will begin replacing its current wifi with Amazon Leo starting in 2028, with 500 aircraft to be equipped with the new service. Delta joins JetBlue as an announced customer of the Amazon’s competitor to Starlink, which is not yet operational.
- Delta is going to remain behind for a long time
- And it doesn’t yet plan to equip its full fleet with better wifi
- The Amazon technology isn’t yet real, so we don’t know how it actually compares
Amazon Leo is coming to @Delta.
Delta will install Amazon Leo on hundreds of aircraft across its fleet, bringing fast, reliable Wi-Fi to tens of millions of customers who fly Delta every year.
An initial installation on 500 aircraft will begin in 2028.
Read more:… pic.twitter.com/cSShl0lJfe
— Amazon Leo (@Amazonleo) March 31, 2026
Delta has been getting left behind on inflight wifi. Theirs is free, but ViaSat is a poor experience compared to Starlink’s low earth orbit high speed satellite.
United has gotten the most press around Starlink, because of their size, but others that have announced that service already include IAG airlines (e.g. Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia); Lufthansa Group airlines (e.g. Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, ITA Airways); Hanjin Group carriers (Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Jin Air, Air Busan, Air Seoul); airBaltic, Air France, Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines; Emirates; flydubai; Gulf Air; Qatar Airways; SAS; Virgin Atlantic; Southwest Airlines; WestJet; ZIPAIR. JSX was actually first.
Delta is choosing Amazon because it’s in the position to offer the best overall deal. This is a bigger deal for Amazon than for Delta, since the new Leo service gets a real marquis customer and market legitimacy. And they’re able to extend beyond just wifi as part of the arrangement, with the pair promoting content in the airline’s seat back screens as part of the deal as well as use of Amazon Web Services presumably at a great discount.
However, United’s timetable has them finishing their full fleet with Starlink before Delta even begins to equip half their fleet with its competitor.
This move, though, really forces American’s hand – American still uses a combination of Intelsat, ViaSat and Panasonic. Since moving to free wifi I’ve found the inflight performance has really degraded. They’ve been reportedly in talks with both Starlink and Amazon, and I’d guessed they would go with Amazon for precisely the reasons that Delta seems to be doing so – but they could really leapfrog Delta with a Starlink deal.
Surprise, surprise! Delta is playing catch up with a disastrous wifi rollout. Already planning a replacement.
UNITED RISING
more insanity to justify page clicks.
DL has had a 3 year headstart on high speed WiFi installation and has 900 mainline aircraft with it.
UA is dead last among US carriers with about a dozen mainline aircraft – behind DL, AA, B6, AA/AS.
On no planet does the promise of high speed WiFi on every plane in 21 months translate into an advantage over hundreds of aircraft that already have it.
Good for Amazon and Delta who will retain their position as the onboard technology leader
Where’s whatshisname to spin this Delta news?
UNITED rising
yes, Greg,
UA’s baggage mishandling as well as fuel and labor costs continue to grow.
Separately not sure if you saw but Meta ending the ability to pay for ads with credit cards imminently.
Some points whales off of that.
Regardless of specific service providers (like, helping Jeff vs. Elon become a trillionaire, great…), in 2026, all airlines should provide free, reliable WiFi to passengers. Delta (and jetBlue) have done this already for the most part for years and years. It is United and American (and Alaska, etc.) that are now catching up. United still charges $8/800 points to use theirs, which is hella lame.
@ Tim — United was already light-years ahead of Delta on wifi. How’s DLs TPAC wifi? Nonexistent!