Whether you wish to work remotely, binge a series, or text a friend in the air, you will need access to in-flight Wi-Fi. And over the years, internet service on aircraft has become more and more available. Delta Wi-Fi recently joined the game.
Delta Air Lines recently updated its onboard Wi-Fi connection to be more reliable and faster — with internet speed double the speed of what was offered in 2019. By the end of 2023, the majority of its domestic fleet will be equipped with free high-speed internet.
What does this all mean for you? Well, here is everything you need to know about Delta Air Lines Wi-Fi.
Delta Air Lines Overview
Delta Air Lines Inc (Delta Air Lines) is a provider of scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo. The airline, along with its subsidiaries and regional affiliates, including Delta Connection, operates over 5,400 flights daily and serves 325 destinations in 52 countries on six continents.
Delta is a founding member of the SkyTeam airline alliance. As of the end of 2022, it had 90,000 employees. Its portfolio of services includes:
- passenger transport
- cargo transport
- aircraft management
- professional security
- training and consulting
- aviation solutions
- vacation packages
- maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO).
Delta is a member of the SkyTeam alliance and has bilateral and multilateral marketing alliances with foreign airlines. It also has service agreements with multiple domestic regional air carriers and serves passengers in small and medium-sized cities. The airline has alliances with Aeroméxico, Air France-KLM, China Eastern, Korean Air, and Virgin Atlantic.
Delta Air Lines is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the US, and offers many co-branded credit cards that provide numerous perks and rewards opportunities. This directory gives you the resources to plan out your travel strategy for flying Delta.
The airline has nine hubs, with Atlanta being its largest in terms of total passengers and number of departures. It ranks second among the world’s largest airlines by number of passengers carried, passenger miles flown, and fleet size. In addition, it ranks first by revenue for commercially owned airline companies as well as in brand value, and 113th on the Fortune 500.
Delta and its worldwide alliance partners operate more than 15,000 flights per day. It is the only U.S. carrier that flies to Dakar and Copenhagen, and along with competitor United Airlines, are the only two U.S. carriers that fly to Stockholm.
Delta Air Lines Hubs
- Atlanta – Delta’s hub for the Southeastern United States and its main gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition to its corporate headquarters, Delta operates its primary hub in Atlanta as well as Delta TechOps, which is Delta’s primary maintenance base.
- Boston – This is Delta’s secondary transatlantic hub. It offers service to destinations in Europe and North America.
- Detroit – One of Delta’s two Midwest hubs. It is the primary Asian gateway for the Eastern United States and it also provides service to many destinations in the Americas and Europe. Former Northwest Airlines hub.
- Los Angeles – Delta’s secondary hub for the West Coast. It offers service to cities in Latin America, Asia, Australia, Europe, and major domestic cities and West Coast regional destinations.
- Minneapolis/St. Paul – One of Delta’s two Midwest hubs. It is the primary Canadian gateway for the airline and also serves many American metropolitan destinations, a number of regional destinations in the upper Midwest, and select destinations in Europe and Asia.
- New York–JFK – Delta’s primary transatlantic hub. The hub also offers service on many transcontinental “prestige routes” to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle.
- New York–LaGuardia – Delta’s second New York hub. Delta’s service at LaGuardia covers numerous East Coast U.S. cities and a number of regional destinations in the U.S. and Canada.
- Salt Lake City – Delta’s hub for the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. Delta’s service covers most major U.S. destinations and a number of regional destinations in the U.S. It emphasizes on select destinations in the Rocky Mountains in Canada and Mexico, and select cities in Europe and Hawaii.
- Seattle/Tacoma – Delta’s primary West Coast hub. The hub serves as an international gateway to Asia for the Western United States.
Delta Wi-Fi
The airline offers its passengers onboard Wi-Fi. Powered by Intelsat (formerly known as Gogo) and Viasat, it is available on more than 40% of its planes and on more than 250 routes. The internet providers vary by aircraft, and Wi-Fi speeds should be enough to stream videos.
You can connect to the internet using a laptop, tablet, or smartphone from pushback to park. Delta’s free Wi-Fi has been extended to most domestic flights on Feb. 1, 2023.
Even on flights not equipped with free Wi-Fi, messaging platforms Facebook Messenger, iMessage, and WhatsApp are included for the duration of the flight on all Wi-Fi-enabled routes. Movies, TV, and games are available to passengers, as well. Certain passengers also have access to more robust internet connections for free, regardless of its availability to the entire flight.
If you’re a T-Mobile or Sprint customer with an eligible and active account, you can use Delta’s in-flight connection for free.
- If you have Magenta Max with T-Mobile or Sprint Max plan with Sprint, you get unlimited full-flight Wi-Fi, streaming, and texting on Delta flights.
- Magenta and Sprint One customers receive four sessions of full-flight internet per year and unlimited texting for free. After that, one hour of complimentary Wi-Fi is included per flight.
How to connect to Delta Wi-Fi
Though there will be no cost to connect to the in-flight network, connecting your device to the free Wi-Fi won’t be as simple as selecting the network in your phone’s settings. Delta will require travelers to log into their SkyMiles account once aboard the aircraft in order to access the WiFi.
Customers without SkyMiles accounts will be able to create one on their flight in order to get online. However, there is no cost to create a SkyMiles account with Delta.
Once you have created a SkyMiles account, follow the steps to connect to Delta in-flight Wi-Fi:
- If you’re using a phone or a tablet to connect, make sure to put your device in airplane mode.
- Select the “DeltaWiFi.com” network, and you’ll be redirected to the Wi-Fi portal.
- Wait for the page to load. If it doesn’t load, type “deltawifi.com” into your browser and purchase a Wi-Fi pass of your choosing.
As of Feb. 1, 2023, Delta offers free Wi-Fi on most domestic flights. By the end of 2023, free Wi-Fi will be available on more than 700 Delta aircraft. On aircraft without free Wi-Fi, Delta Wi-Fi costs $7 for a one-hour pass from Intelsat. Viasat charges $5 per flight per device no matter the destination and duration.
If you fly with Delta often and don’t want to pay for Wi-Fi separately each time you fly, you can purchase two types of monthly internet plans.
- Monthly domestic plan: $49.95.
- Monthly global plan: $69.95.
The domestic plan offers monthly access on all domestic Wi-Fi-equipped flights (plus flights to and from Canada and Mexico). The global plan offers coverage on international routes. A subscription with the option to cancel at any time is available on both internet plans.
Both Intelsat and Viasat providers are available to passengers paying for Wi-Fi subscriptions.
How to use Delta’s T-Mobile Wi-Fi
If you’re eligible and want to use the complimentary internet when flying Delta, follow the steps:
- Put your phone in airplane mode.
- Make sure Wi-Fi calling is enabled.
- Select the airline’s Wi-Fi network and wait for a pop-up page. If it doesn’t pop up, type “wifionboard.com” into your browser and choose the T-Mobile perk “In-Flight Connection On US!”
- Key in your T-Mobile or Sprint number.
- Select “Get Wi-Fi and Texting” and begin browsing and texting while in the air.
Which Delta planes have free Wi-Fi?
Delta offers free Wi-Fi on all jets equipped with Viasat Wi-Fi. This includes a majority of narrow-body aircraft. Currently, well over 80% of Delta’s domestic fleet features Viasat Wi-Fi, and by the end of 2023, it should be available on over 700 jets.
You can expect to find free Wi-Fi on Airbus A320 family aircraft (including A319s, A320s, and A321s), as well as Boeing 737s. Note that on these aircraft, free Wi-Fi is offered on all routes. So if you’re on a short-haul international flight (whether to Canada or Mexico), you should receive free Wi-Fi as well.
Which Delta planes don’t have free Wi-Fi?
Unfortunately, not all Delta planes feature Viasat Wi-Fi just yet. Among narrow-body mainline aircraft, you won’t generally find Viasat Wi-Fi on Airbus A220s and Boeing 717s. You won’t also find Viasat Wi-Fi on wide-body aircraft, including Airbus A330s, Airbus A350s, and Boeing 767s
Regional jets (including CRJ and Embraer aircraft) also do not feature Viasat Wi-Fi.
In other words, don’t expect to get free Wi-Fi when traveling on a long-haul Delta flight. Furthermore, many premium transcontinental routes are operated by Boeing 767s, and those also don’t feature free Wi-Fi. As it stands, the plan is for all wide-body aircraft to feature Viasat Wi-Fi by the end of 2024.
Who is eligible for free Wi-Fi on Delta?
On eligible flights, free Wi-Fi is available to all Delta SkyMiles members. Anyone can instantly join SkyMiles for free with this link. There’s no need to actually credit your flight to SkyMiles or have your SkyMiles number on your record. You just need to know your SkyMiles log-in details once onboard a flight.
You can connect to Wi-Fi for free with multiple devices with one SkyMiles log-in, so you can use the Wi-Fi on your laptop, smartphone, etc.
How fast is the Wi-Fi speed on Delta Air Line?
Viasat is one of the best mainstream inflight Wi-Fi providers, so you should find the Wi-Fi speeds to be quite good. Will it be as good as you’re used to on the ground? Probably not. But given that you’re flying 500 miles per hour six miles above the earth’s surface, an internet speed that clocks an average of 25Mbps is pretty impressive.
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