(Credit: Amazon)
Rather than picking Starlink, Delta Air Lines has decided to bet on Amazon’s upcoming challenger, Leo, to deliver in-flight Wi-Fi on the company’s jets.
On Tuesday, Amazon announced the deal, which involves installing the satellite internet service on 500 Delta aircraft, or about half of its fleet.
Each jet will be equipped with a single Leo antenna capable of delivering up to 1Gbps download speeds and 400Mbps upload speeds. Although internet capacity will be shared across the plane, Amazon promises that passengers will be able to stream TV shows, play games, and upload content as if using a ground-based internet service.
Leo in-flight Wi-Fi will also be free so long as passengers sign up for Delta SkyMiles, the airline’s free loyalty program. But on the downside, the Leo service won’t arrive until 2028. Amazon’s satellite internet business is currently in a private beta with only select enterprise customers. JetBlue, another airline, has also signed up with Leo, but previously said it'll only become available starting in 2027 for a portion of its fleet.
(Credit: Amazon)It’s a bit of a gamble, since Amazon has faced delays in launching Leo, which currently spans only about 200 satellites—too few to deliver robust coverage. However, the e-commerce giant has spent billions to secure launch capacity for more than 100 missions through Q1 2029.
At the same time, Delta appears to be hedging its bets. The airline says it’ll continue using its existing partnerships with internet providers T-Mobile/Viasat and Hughesnet to provide in-flight Wi-Fi on other jets.
The "multi-year" deal is a significant win for Amazon Leo, which has been laying the groundwork to compete against Starlink. SpaceX’s satellite internet service has already disrupted the in-flight Wi-Fi market by delivering top speeds compared with rivals. Hawaiian Airlines, a Starlink partner, hit median download speeds of about 161 Mbps last year, according to Ookla.
Delta didn’t clearly say why it picked Leo over Starlink, which is already available on a growing number of airlines, including United and Alaska. However, satellite industry analyst Tim Farrar previously noted that SpaceX "only offers fleetwide take-it-or-leave-it deals" to airline providers.
For now, Delta CEO Ed Bastian said, “This agreement gives us the best, fastest, and most cost-effective technology available to better connect the world today.”
The airline also pointed out it had an existing relationship through Amazon Web Services, a major cloud provider that currently powers Delta’s IT systems, including reservation systems and customer-facing applications. In addition, Delta expects Leo to deliver “unmatched upload capacity.”