Delta CEO Declares Free In-Flight Wi-Fi Is Coming

"We're going to make it free," said Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian, when speaking about his long-term vision for in-flight Wi-Fi during Skift Global Forum in New York City on Friday. Bastian said free and faster Wi-Fi are things that his customers want. "I don't know of anywhere else besides in an airplane that you can't get free Wi-Fi." He did not, however, specify when that might happen at Delta. Bastian believes free Wi-Fi would also produce a large step-change function in the connection "between our customers and the airline" for purposes of marketing and branding. In the past year, United has been making technical upgrades to boost Wi-Fi speeds on selected aircraft. On Friday, Bastian talked about his high hopes for a new wireless in-flight entertainment (IFE) system that Delta is testing on its new Airbus A220 narrow-body aircraft. "A wireless IFE is great because it means we don't have to wire the planes anymore," Bastian said. "We just put the tablet on the back of