Delta Air Lines today said it is embarking on a fleetwide rollout of inflight Internet access across its mainline domestic network through a partnership with Aircell. The companies plan to outfit more than 330 aircraft for wireless broadband by summer 2009, representing the largest rollout of inflight Internet to date.
Delta plans to launch the service on its 133-aircraft fleet of MD88/90s, and then expand to the rest of its domestic fleet of Boeing 737s, 757s and 767-300s by the middle of next year.
Aircell, which also is powering onboard broadband efforts by American Airlines and Virgin America, said the service is compatible with any Wi-Fi-enabled device, including laptops, smart phones and PDAs, and will cost customers $9.95 on flights lasting three hours or less and $12.95 on flights more than three hours.
Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and Virgin America in the past year have embarked on plans to roll out some level of onboard connectivity options in the domestic market. Though carriers have taken divergent approaches to the depth of access, pricing models and the number of aircraft in which they initially will install offerings, inflight connectivity is expected to become widespread in coming years
(BTNonline, Feb. 4).