达美航空将于2月1日开始提供免费的Wi-Fi
byDaniel McCarthy/三角洲首席执行官埃德·巴斯蒂安(Ed Bastian)周四在拉斯维加斯举行的消费者电子展(CES)宣布,三角洲航空公司将开始在其大部分国内航班上提供免费的Wi-Fi。
Initially, free Wi-Fi will only be available on planes that are capable of providing it, Bastian said, which accounts for nearly 80% of its domestic fleet (those that are equipped with Viasat). Delta will then work to make it available across its full fleet, with the goal of doing so by the end of 2024 for all domestic, international, and regional flights.
唯一的要求是,乘客通过其Skymiles帐户登录。
“Delta is here to announce that starting February 1st,Wi-Fi将在我们整个公司中免费。”巴斯蒂安在舞台上说。“它将是免费的,它将很快,每个人都可以使用。”
The announcement makes good on a goal that Bastian set on the CES stage in early 2020, and that other Delta executives have hinted at for some time. Bastian, onstage in 2020 right before the pandemic started, told the CES audience that Delta was looking at the prospect of offering it sometime over the next couple of years. The carrier had also teased the offering with a two-week testing program that it launched in May 2019, a program that saw around 55 domestic flights operate with free Wi-Fi to test capabilities onboard.
Also, when the carrier announced the news that it was moving to Viasat in January 2021, a new in-flight Wi-Fi provider, Ekrem Dimbiloglu, Delta’s director of brand experience for in-flight entertainment said in a Q&A that “we are committed to delivering Free Wi-Fi in the future, and this is a significant step on that journey.”
Delta is currently offering $5 Wi-Fi on most of its domestic mainline fleet (Viasat-equipped flights), along with a $49.95 monthly domestic plan and a $69.95 monthly international plan. At the same time, it does offer free messaging from smartphones via iMessage, Facebook Messenger, or WhatsApp, complimentary on most flights.
The move marks what could be the start of a fairly large shift in the airline industry—Delta would become one of the first major U.S. carriers to offer free Wi-Fi across its fleet. While some airlines do offer it already, including JetBlue Airways, most carriers have either been charging somewhere between $5 and $10 for inflight Wi-Fi or asking flyers to first watch an ad before connecting (something American is doing on some of its flights).