Delta Air Lines picks Amazon Leo over Starlink for in-flight WiFi
Amazon Leo · Delta Air Lines
Delta will equip 500 aircraft with Amazon Leo satellite WiFi starting in 2028, passing over SpaceX's Starlink for the deal.
what happened
Delta Air Lines and Amazon announced a multi-year agreement on March 31, 2026 to deploy Amazon Leo satellite WiFi across Delta's fleet, starting with 500 aircraft in 2028 and later expanding to hundreds more, per Amazon's own announcement. Each aircraft will carry a single phased-array antenna delivering up to 1 Gbps download and 400 Mbps upload speeds; WiFi stays free for Delta SkyMiles members, and Delta will keep its existing Viasat and Hughes connectivity partnerships alongside Leo, per Delta's own release.
why it matters
The deal is Amazon Leo's second major US airline win after JetBlue and a direct loss for SpaceX's Starlink, which has signed United, Southwest, and Alaska Airlines for inflight connectivity. It shows an airline betting on Amazon's still-building constellation, a few hundred satellites in orbit at announcement versus Starlink's roughly 9,000, ahead of a full buildout, and sets up a head-to-head fight for the remaining major US carriers' inflight WiFi business.
for who
Airline inflight-connectivity buyers, satellite operators competing for aviation contracts
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- Amazon Leo, Delta Air Lines
- Category
- contract
- Impact
- notable
- SNR
- 5 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-03-31
- Published
- 2026-08-30 17:25 UTC