Delta Airlines Has Officially Launched Its Free WiFi – Here’s What Flights Are Included

Delta Airlines Has Officially Launched Its Free WiFi - Here's What Flights Are Included

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It’s been a long time coming, but Delta has raced ahead of every major, full-service airline in the United States and launched complimentary WiFi service during flights. As of this week, passengers are no longer required to be disconnected from their socials or email while flying, in a major change of policy that is set to have wider repercussions in the industry.

As exciting as it sounds, Delta has reiterated not all flights are included:

Young Female Traveler Smiling As She Works From Her Computer While Listening To Music Inside An Aircraft, International Travel

Free WiFi On All Domestic Mainline Routes

Lack of connectivity on board Delta flights is no longer a problem. On February 1, the company introduced its ‘fast, free’ Wi-Fi across a sizable portion of its fleet, allowing customers to access the internet without paying high fees. The initiative, which is a partnership with T-Mobile, has impacted ‘most’ domestic mainline routes.

For those of you who may not be familiar with aviation lingo, any aircraft operated by an airline’s main operating unit is deemed ‘mainline’. In simpler terms, only routes serviced by Delta directly, as opposed to regional subsidiaries, have benefited from the rollout. Needless to say, it was not extended to a majority of low-cost operations.

Young Male Traveler Connecting To A WiFi Network While Flying, Intra-Aircraft

The Delta secondary fleet is run under the Delta Connection brand, including the carrier’s own Endeavor Air, as well as subsidiaries Republic Airways and SkyWest, regularly used as part of code-sharing agreements. In total, Viasat-powered Wi-Fi was activated on more than 500 aircraft on the launch date, with more to come.

By the end of the year, they plan on offering Wi-Fi on more than 700 aircraft. Remaining connected in-flight is no longer a luxury; it is ‘essential to daily life’, especially in the context of business owners and digital nomads who use every opportunity they get in those in-between moments (e.g. flying or transiting airports) to catch up with some work.

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Delta Air Lines Airbus 320 Pictured Mid-Way During A Flight

According to CEO Ed Bastian himself, their connectivity ‘should be no different’ on Delta flights. He stated in Delta’s press release that their vision ‘has long been to deliver an experience at 30,000 feet that feels similar to what our customers have available on the ground‘, beginning with mainline, domestic operations.

Airports Served By Delta Air Lines

The following destinations have been served by Delta Air Lines:

Alabama

  • Birmingham – Shuttlesworth International
  • Huntsville
  • Mobile
Airport Young female passenger on smart phone and laptop sitting in terminal hall while waiting for her flight

Alaska

  • Anchorage – Ted Stevens International
  • Fairbanks
  • Juneau
  • Ketchikan
  • Sitka

Arizona

Arkansas

  • Fayetteville – Northwest Arkansas National
  • Little Rock – Clinton National
An Alaska Airlines plane flies over the San Diego Airport

California

  • Burbank
  • Long Beach
  • Los Angeles – Los Angeles International
  • Oakland
  • Ontario
  • Palm Springs
  • Sacramento
  • San Diego
  • San Francisco
  • San Jose – Norman Y. Mineta International
  • Santa Ana – John Wayne Airport

Colorado

  • Denver – Denver International
  • Hayden – Yampa Valley Airport
  • Montrose
  • Vail – Eagle County Airport
Couple at Airport

Connecticut

  • Hartford – Bradley International

Florida

  • Daytona Beach
  • Fort Lauderdale – Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International
  • Fort Myers – Southwest Florida International
  • Fort Walton Beach – Destin-Fort Walton Beach
  • Gainesville
  • Jacksonville
  • Key West
  • Melbourne – Melbourne Orlando International
  • Miami – Miami International
  • Orlando – Orlando International
  • Panama City – Northwest Florida Beaches International
  • Pensacola
  • Sarasota – Sarasota-Bradenton International
  • Tallahassee
  • Tampa
  • West Palm Beach
Passengers Transiting Orlando International Airport, Orlando, Florida, United States

Georgia

  • Atlanta – Hartsfield-Jackson International
  • Augusta
  • Savannah

Hawaii

  • Honolulu – Daniel K. Inouye International
  • Kahului
  • Kona
  • Lihue

Idaho

Illinois

  • Chicago – Midway International
  • Chicago – O’Hare International
Travelers walk to gates at Chicago O'Hare International Airport in USA.

Indiana

Iowa

  • Cedar Rapids – Eastern Iowa Airport
  • Des Moines

Kansas

  • Wichita – Eisenhower National Airport
flight attendant pouring coffee for passenger

Kentucky

  • Louisville – Muhammad Ali International

Louisiana

  • Baton Rouge – Metropolitan Airport
  • New Orleans – Louis Armstrong New Orleans International

Maine

  • Bangor
  • Portland – International Jetport

Maryland

  • Baltimore – Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
Delta Airlines flight booking application

Massachusetts

  • Boston – Logan International
  • Worcester

Michigan

  • Detroit – Metropolitan Airport
  • Grand Rapids – Gerald R. Ford International
  • Traverse City – Cherry Capital Airport

Minnesota

  • Duluth
  • Minneapolis-Saint Paul

Mississippi

  • Gulfport – Gulfport-Biloxi International
  • Jackson
Delta Airlines Aircraft Parked In A Row At An Unspecified Airport
Young woman looking at the flight information board on the airport, checking her flight

Missouri

  • Kansas City – Kansas City International
  • Springfield – Springfield-Branson National Airport
  • St. Louis – St. Louis Lambert International

Montana

  • Billings – Billings Logan International
  • Bozeman – Bozeman Yellowstone International
  • Kalispell – Glacier Park International
  • Missoula

Nebraska

  • Omaha – Eppley Airfield
delta passengers checking in to their flights

Nevada

  • Las Vegas – Harry Reid International
  • Reno – Reno-Tahoe International

New Jersey

  • Newark – Liberty International

New Mexico

New York

  • Albany
  • Buffalo – Buffalo Niagara International
  • New York City – John F. Kennedy International
  • New York City – LaGuardia International
  • Rochester – Greater Rochester International
  • Syracuse – Syracuse Hancock International
  • White Plains – Westchester County Airport
self check-in kiosk at new Terminal C LaGuardia Airport

North Carolina

  • Asheville
  • Charlotte – Charlotte Douglas International
  • Fayetteville
  • Greensboro – Piedmont Triad International
  • Raleigh – Raleigh-Durham International
  • Wilmington

North Dakota

  • Bismark – Municipal Airport
  • Fargo – Hector International

Ohio

  • Cincinnati-Covington – Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International
  • Cleveland – Cleveland Hopkins International
  • Columbus – John Glenn Columbus International
  • Dayton
seating inside the newark airport looks uncomfortable

Oklahoma

  • Oklahoma City – Will Rogers World Airport
  • Tulsa

Oregon

Pennsylvania

  • Harrisburg
  • Philadelphia
  • Pittsburgh
woman looking at her tablet on a plane

Puerto Rico

  • San Juan – Luis Munoz Marin International

Rhode Island

  • Providence – T. F. Green Airport

South Carolina

  • Greenville – Greenville-Spartanburg International
  • Myrtle Beach

South Dakota

  • Rapid City – Regional Airport
  • Sioux Falls – Regional Airport
delta passenger looking at screen in plane

Tennessee

  • Bristol – Tri-Cities Regional Airport
  • Chattanooga – Metropolitan Airport
  • Knoxville – McGhee Tyson Airport
  • Memphis – Memphis International
  • Nashville – Nashville International

Texas

  • Austin – Austin-Bergstrom International
  • Dallas – Dallas/Fort Worth International
  • Dallas – Dallas Love Field
  • El Paso – El Paso International
  • Harlingen – Valley International
  • Houston – George Bush Intercontinental
  • Houston – William P. Hobby
  • San Antonio – San Antonio International
a side view of an airline seat with a recline button

U.S. Virgin Islands

  • Saint Croix – Henry E. Rohlsen International
  • Saint Thomas – Cyril E. King Airport

Utah

  • Salt Lake City – Salt Lake City International

Vermont

  • Burlington – Burlington International

Virginia

  • Norfolk – Norfolk International
  • Richmond – Richmond International
  • Roanoke – Roanoke International

Washington

  • Seattle – Seattle-Tacoma International
  • Spokane – Spokane International
Delta Airlines Aircraft Parked By An Airport Gate, Orlando International Airport, Florida, United States

Washington D.C.

  • Washington – Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
  • Washington – Washington Dulles International

West Virginia

  • Charleston – Yager Airport

Wisconsin

  • Appleton – Appleton International
  • Green Bay – Green Bay-Austin Straubel International
  • Madison – Dane County Airport
  • La Crosse – La Crosse Regional
  • Milwaukee – Milwaukee Mitchell International

Wyoming

  • Casper – Casper-Natrona County International
  • Jackson Hole
Happy Traveler Observing Planes At Airport

WiFi Expected On All International And Regional Flights By The End Of 2024

In principle, flights between these hubs already feature Viasat WiFi. Moving forward, Delta expects to include coverage on all international and regional aircraft ‘by the end of 2024’. At present, only passengers flying to and from any of the cities above enjoy free WiFi, available through their Delta SkyMiles® account.

Bastian stated that they didn’t ‘just want free Wi-Fi to offer base-level service’: they expect it to be ‘transformative’ for the flying experience: ‘It is imperative all customers onboard can enjoy their favorite content just as they would at home, and we’ve put this system through meticulous tests to make that possible‘.

Delta Airlines Cabin

Delta may have been the first airline to successfully implement complimentary WiFi on mainline aircraft, but it was not the first to conduct a trial: last year, low-cost Southwest began offering the service on a number of flights while lifting restrictions on browsing. Previously, a WiFi pass had to be purchased for $8, excluding streaming.

Despite Delta’s and Southwest’s latest upgrades, free WiFi on board is yet to be replicated by most of their competitors, though slowly but surely, the industry is changing and adding it to their list of amenities. A decade or more ago, accessing emails onboard low-cost commercial flights would have been an inconceivable idea, yet here we are.

As competition increases, it is only a matter of time – perhaps a couple more years – until WiFi is widely available across all intra-U.S. flights.

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