PLENARY Delta Air Lines Wi-Fi

Delta Wi-Fi, Two Years Later

W

HEN DELTA Air Lines announced

in December 2008 that it would be rolling out Wi-Fi access on all of its do- mestic flights — becom- ing the first major U.S. carrier to offer in-flight Internet service — the original plan was for the project to be completed by the following summer. But something

slowed the airline down: its merger with North- west Airlines, completed in January 2010, which increased Delta’s domes-

“We continue to look at things that our customers want when they’re travel- ing. We want to do everything we can to ensure their con- nectivity throughout the travel experi- ence.”

tic fleet from 330 planes to 549 planes. At press time, the project was scheduled to wrap up last month. Two years after com-

mitting to in-flight Wi-Fi, Delta is pleased with the results — which sug- gest that while Internet access is a no-brainer for business travelers, they’re not the only ones using the service, which usually costs $9.95 to $12.95 per flight, but is currently free as part of a holiday promotion running through Jan. 2. “It’s not really catego- rized toward any specific customers,” said Delta spokesman Paul Skrbec. “That’s proven itself in the types of custom- ers that are using the service.” Indeed, in recent

months Facebook has been the No. 1 site visited by the airline’s in-

flight Wi-Fi users. “It has taken on a lot of different needs and behaviors for our customers,” Skrbec said. “The response overall has been very, very positive.” What’s next for Delta

in terms of providing business-friendly ser- vices? Skrbec said: “We continue to look at things that our customers want when they’re traveling” — including apps for the iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android, all of which will be launched by the end of the year. “We know that customers use those handheld and mobile devices,” Skrbec said, “and want to do everything we can to ensure their connectiv- ity throughout the travel experience without having any disconnect in the process.” n

— Christopher Durso www.pcma.org