Opinionated entrepreneur Elon Musk has taken aim at Delta Air Lines amid claims that passengers are avoiding the Atlanta-based US ‘big three’ legacy carrier and SkyTeam member due to its lack of Starlink WiFi. Never one to mince his words when it comes to online flame wars (such as his public spat with Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary), Musk even said that things will “get much worse” for Delta.
The carrier does offer passengers the option to connect to onboard WiFi. While not necessary for everyone, a total lack of connectivity would surely leave any legacy carrier in the dust compared with its rivals. However, Delta’s decision to choose Amazon over Starlink, an arm of Musk’s SpaceX firm, rubbed the businessman the wrong way, and he is now taking glee in seeing flyers vote with their feet.
Musk Claims The Situation Will “Get Much Worse”
Over time, WiFi has become a more important part of the airline passenger experience. While planes used to be a refuge from the online world and a welcome chance to disconnect for a few hours, changing passenger needs have seen WiFi become as much a part of modern flying as food and drink. Now Starlink boss Elon Musk claims flyers are specifically avoiding Delta over its lack of Starlink.
On Wednesday, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO took to X to allege that he “warned them” about flyers voting with their feet, adding that “it will get much worse.” Musk’s post was a quote from an image featuring just two Delta flyers claiming they booked with United instead because of the WiFi situation. As such, it remains to be seen if there is any widespread substance to Musk’s bold online claims.
Simple Flying has reached out to Delta for comment on Musk’s latest statements on Thursday, but did not receive an immediate response.
According to Business Insider, Musk previously claimed Delta would lose customers over its decision to select Amazon Leo over Starlink for its WiFi service this year. However, the publication noted that Delta CEO Ed Bastian backed his airline’s position shortly thereafter, citing Amazon Leo’s “great retailing capability and Amazon Prime and video gaming technologies.”
In truth, the discourse between Delta Air Lines and Starlink stretches back considerably further. Indeed, as early as April 2022, Simple Flying reported that the carrier was testing the SpaceX-backed WiFi solution after holding preliminary talks with the company. At the time, Viasat provided its existing WiFi. However, just over four years later, the news broke that it had chosen Amazon Leo instead.
A key motivation behind this choice was the carrier’s ability to prioritize its own brand and integrate the Delta Sync portal into the WiFi offering. These branding issues were ultimately what caused Delta’s talks with Starlink to collapse. However, the decision has not been met with universal acclaim: Simple Flying recently reported that an ex-Delta pilot had taken to X to ask the airline to reconsider the move.
The carrier’s CEO has fired back at criticism from Mr Musk.
While many see Musk as a somewhat divisive character, the commercial aviation sector’s response to Starlink has been more universally positive. This is evident in the growing number of carriers that have equipped their aircraft with the fast, free WiFi solution to improve connectivity. Qatar Airways was among the first, launching the solution back in October 2024.
Since then, airlines worldwide have followed suit. For instance, Lufthansa launched Starlink on an Airbus A320neo on Wednesday, with the wider Lufthansa Group aiming to fit 850 jets with the product by 2029. Iberia’s Starlink connectivity also came in handy last week when Spain found itself at the center of the recent total solar eclipse, as it used the WiFi to stream the event from a plane.
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