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Delta equips shuttle fleet with Wi-Fi capabilities

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February 22, 2012|By Katie Johnston

Business travelers on the Delta Shuttle between Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C., can now work to their hearts’ content on every flight.

Delta Air Lines has installed Wi-Fi on all the jets that fly its East Coast Shuttle routes, as well as between New York’s LaGuardia Airport and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Delta has the largest wired fleet in the world, according to the airline, making up nearly half of the world’s Wi-Fi equipped planes. By this summer, about 800 Delta aircraft will be equipped with Wi-Fi service.

Other airlines, such as American, United, and Virgin America, offer similar services on some flights.

Equipping planes with Wi-Fi is expensive but worth it, said airline consultant Jay Sorensen, because business travelers are more likely to fly an airline that allows them to keep working online. “I think what Delta has done is exceptionally intelligent,’’ he said. “This is simply a space they must be in.’’