Delta Becomes First Major US Airline to Introduce Free Wi-Fi

While Southwest Airlines deals with its holiday travel fiasco by offering travelers miles, refunds, and travel reimbursements, Delta Air Lines is set to offer all customers fast, free Wi-Fi in partnership with T-Mobile on board most domestic mainline flights beginning Feb. 1. It will be the first major US airline to offer free Wi-Fi as a core element of its customer experience.

The airline will offer the service on more than 700 Viasat-equipped aircraft by the end of 2023. Delta also announced plans to bring free Wi-Fi on international and regional aircraft by the end of 2024.2

“At work, at home and everywhere in between, connectivity is essential to daily life, and your journey on Delta should be no different,” said Ed Bastian, Delta CEO, at CES 2023 in Las Vegas last week. “Our vision has long been to deliver an experience at 30,000 feet that feels similar to what our customers have available on the ground.”

Designed to fuel Delta’s vision of more personalized travel, customers will log in using their Delta SkyMiles® account or join SkyMiles on the ground or in the air for free to connect.  

“At T-Mobile, we believe staying connected while traveling should be an easy, seamless experience,” said Mike Sievert, T-Mobile CEO. “T-Mobile customers already get free in-flight Wi-Fi and now we’re partnering with Delta to bring that experience to all customers — regardless of their wireless provider — so that anyone flying Delta can enjoy online access from takeoff to touchdown.”