Delta Airlines has partnered with Amazon to provide in-flight Wi-Fi on its flights starting in 2028. This move marks a significant shift in the airline's internet services, as it will be powered by Amazon's Leo satellite internet service. The deal will see Amazon's Leo antennas installed on 500 Delta aircraft initially, offering passengers low-latency Wi-Fi with download speeds of up to 1Gbps and upload speeds of up to 400Mbps. This will enable passengers to stream movies and TV shows, play games, and work as if they were on the ground.
Delta SkyMiles members will be able to use the Leo-powered Wi-Fi for free when traveling to any of the more than 300 locations Delta flies to. The partnership also highlights Amazon's growing presence in the cloud computing market, as Delta already uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) for its reservation systems and applications. Since 2020, 600 of Delta's applications have been migrated to the cloud.
Amazon currently has around 200 satellites in low Earth orbit and plans to aggressively accelerate production this year. The partnership between Amazon and Delta is a significant blow to Elon Musk's Starlink, which had been vying for a share of the in-flight Wi-Fi market.
When Amazon says its Leo satellite internet service will offer low-latency Wi-Fi with speeds of up to 1Gbps, it means that Nigerian tech startups like Andela, which rely on cloud-based services, will be able to work seamlessly on long-haul flights. This could be a game-changer for remote work and entrepreneurship in Nigeria, where internet connectivity is often a major challenge.
