Delta Air Lines is rolling out free Wi-Fi

Delta Air Lines is rolling out free Wi-Fi to most of its planes beginning February 1. “It’s going to be free, it’s going to be fast and its going to be available for everyone,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said Thursday at Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. He added that the airline invested more than $1b in Wi-Fi technology over the past few years. Passengers will need to be a member of its free SkyMiles loyalty program to access the on-board internet. Customers who aren’t members will have to pay a flat fee of $10. More than 500 of Delta’s domestic narrow-body planes serving the airline’s “most popular routes” will be ready for free Wi-Fi at launch, the company said. Wide-body international and smaller regional jets will be coming online by the end of 2024. Customers will know if their flight has free Wi-Fi by a decal noting it near the boarding door. They also can connect multiple devices at one time. The announcement, made Thursday at the Consumer Electronics Show, is several years in the making. Bastian said in 2018 that offering free Wi-Fi across its fleet was a priority, but needed time to improve the technology so passengers wouldn’t have to struggle with sluggish speeds.<br/>