Elon Musk renews his battle with Delta after it snubbed Starlink for Jeff Bezos' Amazon Leo

Elon Musk renews his battle with Delta after it snubbed Starlink for Jeff Bezos' Amazon Leo

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Pete Syme

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Elon Musk isn't over Delta Air Lines choosing a rival in-flight WiFi provider instead of Starlink.

After some X users posted about choosing to book with United Airlines over Delta due to its Starlink internet, Musk said on Wednesday, "I warned them. It will get much worse."

It comes after Musk said Delta would "lose customers" when the airline announced a deal with Amazon Leo in May.

Leo operates similarly to Starlink, using a constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit. This means they provide stronger, faster connections because the satellites are closer to the planet and cover more areas than traditional in-flight WiFi providers.

When it comes to scale, Starlink is well ahead, with over 10,000 active satellites and deals with 43 airlines. Amazon Leo has just under 400 satellites and aims to launch over 3,000. It has only two announced airline customers so far — JetBlue and Delta.

Amazon plans to start the service with JetBlue next year and is scheduled to be available on Delta in 2028.

There's no evidence to suggest that customers eschewing Delta for other airlines with Starlink is widespread, though SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said during its recent earnings that one airline, which she didn't name, had reported some customers were choosing unnecessary layovers to ensure they were on a flight with Starlink.

Delta's main rivals, United and American Airlines, have both chosen Starlink, but access is still fairly uncommon across most airlines, as installing the terminals requires taking planes out of service.

It's available on over 400 United airplanes — about a quarter of its fleet — and the airline hopes to have it equipped on nearly 1,000 by the end of the year.

American isn't planning to launch Starlink until early next year.

Back in May, Delta CEO Ed Bastian told Bloomberg that the airline chose Amazon Leo thanks to an "improved bandwidth with a much lower price point than what we've ever seen from Starlink."

An airline spokesperson at the time also cited the potential for a "broader partnership" with Amazon beyond just in-flight WiFi.

Delta did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Musk's latest comments.

It's not the only airline that Musk has rebuked over Starlink.

In January, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said he wasn't interested in Starlink, suggesting that installing the terminals on airplane fuselages would increase drag and, in turn, fuel costs.

Musk and O'Leary then engaged in a dayslong war of words, including Musk suggesting he could buy Ryanair, and calling for O'Leary's firing.

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Pete Syme

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Pete Syme is an aviation reporter for Business Insider, based in London.He writes about all things related to the industry, such as flight diversions, aviation safety, airline updates, travel tips, plane tours, and aviation leaders.Pete has appeared on BBC News to discuss a Heathrow Airport closure and on Sky News to talk about Boeing.Before joining Business Insider in 2022, he graduated with an MA in Newspaper Journalism from City, University of London. While getting his BA in English from the University of Exeter, he was the award-winning deputy editor of the student newspaper, Exeposé.You can get in touch by emailing [email protected] or via Signal @syme.99.

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