Elon Musk has criticized Delta Air Lines over its decision to back Amazon Leo rather than SpaceX’s Starlink for its next generation of in-flight internet. He warned that the airline could lose customers as rival United Airlines use Starlink across its fleet.
Responding to an X post pointing out United’s growing number of Starlink-equipped aircraft, Musk said Monday that “Delta will lose a lot of customers.” Independent tracking data now puts the number of United aircraft equipped with Starlink at more than 600, which is roughly 36% of its fleet.
United has said it plans to bring Starlink to its entire fleet by the end of 2027.
Delta Is Not Going Without Fast Wi-Fi
The dispute does not mean Delta passengers will be left without high-speed internet. Delta says its existing Delta Sync Wi-Fi service is already available on more than 1,200 aircraft and provides free connectivity to SkyMiles members. The airline has been working toward fleet-wide connectivity during 2026.
Instead, the disagreement centers on what technology powers Delta’s next phase. Delta announced in March that it selected Amazon Leo for a long-term partnership.
The airline plans to begin installing the low-Earth-orbit satellite service on an initial 500 aircraft in 2028. Amazon says its aviation hardware is designed to deliver speeds of up to 1 Gbps downstream and 400 Mbps upstream.
Musk previously claimed discussions with Delta broke down because the airline wanted connectivity integrated with its Delta Sync experience, while SpaceX favored a more frictionless connection without a traditional login portal. Delta disputed Musk's characterization, and said there were several factors behind its choice and pointed to the potential for a broader relationship with Amazon.
United Gives Starlink a Head Start
The bigger issue for Delta may be timing. United began deploying Starlink well before Delta's planned Amazon Leo rollout and said in June that it expected nearly 1,000 aircraft to be equipped by the end of 2026.
United has also reported that customer satisfaction with Wi-Fi on Starlink-equipped flights was roughly twice as high as on its other flights.
Starlink also currently has a major head start in space. Its constellation exceeds 11,000 satellites, while Amazon Leo had roughly 396 satellites in orbit in late September.
That advantage could expand further after SpaceX’s Starship reached orbit Monday and deployed 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites. The new satellites offer roughly 10 times the data capacity of their predecessors,which could potentially give SpaceX more capacity as demand for high-speed connectivity grows.
