Delta Air Lines provided a March 14 in-flight connectivity (IFC) fleet equipage update, with the international carrier expecting to feature Viasat’s Ka-band service on more than 500 aircraft by the end of 2022.
The Atlanta, Georgia-based airline first signed an agreement to install Viasat connectivity on 300 of its Airbus A321ceo and Boeing 737-900ER/757-200s in January 2021. That agreement expanded to include 230 additional select aircraft from their Airbus 321neo, Airbus 220-300, and Boeing 737-800 fleets announced in May last year.
According to Delta, Viasat’s connectivity speeds are “on average up to twice as fast as service offered in 2019.” Delta currently has more than 300 in-service aircraft equipped with Viasat IFC and has recorded 16.9 million total device connections across 200,000 flights, spending 427,000 hours using the service since June 2021.
“As we look for new ways to bring an at-home experience to more customers, we see personal device streaming as an ‘and’ for our customers who purchase Wi-Fi access, not an ‘or’,” Ekrem Dimbiloglu, Managing Director – In-Flight Entertainment & Connectivity, said in the update. “It’s why we recently added new partners like Spotify, HBO Max, and Peloton.”
Several updates about pricing and subscriptions to in-flight Wi-Fi services for both Intelsat and Viasat are also provided in the update. Delta now charges a flat rate of $5 per per passenger for access to streaming in-flight Wi-Fi throughout the duration of the flight from “plane pushback to park.” Passengers who purchase subscriptions via Intelsat, another IFC service provider featured on Delta aircraft, can now also use those subscriptions for Viasat-enabled flights.
Delta now features Viasat on 50% of its domestic flights, with the other half…