Delta CEO vows free Wi-Fi on all flights
LAS VEGAS – Delta Air Lines Inc.’s chief executive says he wants to bring “magic” back to air travel. His main promise, free Wi-Fi on all flights, would be magical, based on other airlines’ failures to make it happen.
Sound familiar? Like British Airways, Virgin America Inc. and others before it, Delta says it wants to redefine the travel experience through technology. Easier said than done, based on the unfulfilled promises from other airlines of free Wi-Fi, enhanced in-flight entertainment, and other ambitious efforts. Like its rivals, Delta faces a multitude of technological and financial hurdles to meet its sky-high expectations.
“Free Wi-Fi depends on bandwidth availability,” Kaplan said. “This has been one area that airlines have hoped to reach but haven’t so far. Only JetBlue JBLU, -0.70% has been able to offer systemwide free Wi-Fi.”The contours of Delta’s DAL, +0.18% next-generation plan were on full display in an hour-long demonstration Tuesday morning, when Bastian’s keynote marked the opening of the 2020 CES, a gigantic trade show focused on technology.
Passengers will be kept in the loop on weather changes and the duration of turbulence during flights, Bastian told MarketWatch in a phone interview before his keynote. “I’m a firm believer that we need to make Wi-Fi free across all of our service, and we are working toward that,” he said.What Delta didn’t provide was a timetable on when to expect all the features. Free Wi-Fi, for instance, is a quantum leap. Many airlines have enough trouble providing consistent Wi-Fi service at a steep, one-time price.
CES has become a cornerstone of Delta’s consumer outreach. Last year, Bastian joined International Business Machines Corp. IBM, -0.05% CEO Ginni Rometty onstage to discuss artificial intelligence. And the airline plans to make CES part of its annual strategy.
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