The United States’ largest airline by revenue has chosen Amazon to provide its in-flight Wi-Fi in what is being interpreted by some commentators as a rebuff to Elon Musk’s Starlink service. In a press release, Delta Air Lines described itself and Jeff Bezos’s Amazon as “two global leaders driving the future of travel and technology” set for a “long-term collaboration.”
Amazon Leo is coming to @Delta.
— Amazon Leo (@Amazonleo) March 31, 2026
Delta will install Amazon Leo on hundreds of aircraft across its fleet, bringing fast, reliable Wi-Fi to tens of millions of customers who fly Delta every year.
An initial installation on 500 aircraft will begin in 2028.
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Ed Bastian, Delta’s chief executive officer said: “Delta’s future is global,” and went on: “This agreement gives us the fastest and most cost-effective technology available to better connect the world today, and it deepens our work with a global leader that shares our ambition to build what’s next — creating even stronger human connection for our people and our customers for years to come.”
Although Musk’s Starlink is often cited as the fastest and most reliable in-flight Wi-Fi service, the new agreement sees Delta pair with Amazon Leo instead, using the Bezos network of low Earth orbit satellites on both domestic and international flights. The carrier already uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) across its operations and will now build on that, it said, to bring “a new era of connected experiences to benefit Delta customers and employees alike,” the press release said.
Meanwhile, Andy Jassy, President and CEO of Amazon, hailed the contract with Delta as “a great example of the impact and scale” the company’s technology could achieve, adding: “People increasingly want to stay connected wherever they are in the world, and Leo’s speed and reliability is going to have a big impact for businesses, governments, and consumers. It’s going to make the in-flight experience so much better, and it’s going to change what’s possible while traveling.”
The plan is to roll out Amazon Leo on 500 planes from 2028 onwards, installing an aviation-grade, powerful antenna called Leo Ultra, claimed by Amazon to be the fastest in its class. The airline will also work with Amazon to expand its Delta Sync Wi-Fi and seatback experiences.
Apart from JetBlue and now Delta, all the other major US airlines (Alaska, Hawaiian Airlines, Southwest, and United), as well as international competitors such as British Airways, Emirates, and Qatar, have signed up with SpaceX for Starlink provision. Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, Ryanair, recently had a well-publicised row with Musk over its own decision not to equip planes with Starlink due to concerns over additional fuel costs that CEO Michael O’Leary alleged the system entails.
