The proverbial ‘gravitational pull’ of low-latency Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite-powered inflight connectivity is continuing unabated in commercial aviation, as Delta Air Lines earmarks Amazon Leo for an initial 500 tails from 2028.

Announced on 31 March, the arrangement springboards off the US major’s AWS relationship with the tech giant and will serve as a “launchpad” for bringing more brand experiences to passengers, Delta tells Runway Girl Network. It also signals that Delta is pursuing a multi-source approach to IFC, as the carrier is retaining its partnerships with Viasat and Hughes Network Systems.

“Amazon Leo is an addition to our multi-supplier solution,” a Delta spokeswoman confirms to RGN. “The Viasat and Hughes partnerships will remain in place as we work to deliver the right technology to the right aircraft for the best customer experience.”

Delta has standing orders for over 350 aircraft (comprising both narrowbodies and widebodies) and many of these twinjets won’t start arriving until 2027. But Delta hasn’t publicly announced which fleets will receive Amazon Leo — including whether the service will be offered on new-delivery aircraft, existing in-service aircraft (should any contractual obligations to Viasat or Hughes end), twin-aisle aircraft or single-aisle aircraft — and it isn’t ready to share those details yet.

“As always, Delta remains committed to pairing the right aircraft with the right technology to serve customers across the globe,” its spokesperson says when pressed for aircraft type specifics, noting that: “We will share more details as they become available.”

But at a time when the connected seatback is gaining traction, due in part to Delta’s own laudable work to integrate Delta Sync into its IFE systems to offer a smart TV styled experience, the carrier is ready to share some color on what Amazon Leo will mean to the passenger experience.

Getting (even more) personal

In a statement published on LinkedIn, Delta CEO Ed Bastian says Amazon Leo will bring “more fast, personalized digital experiences through our Delta Sync Wi-Fi and seatback. This means more convenient and rewarding travel for our customers and new, streamlined tools with real-time information to enable our people to better serve you.”

Amazon Leo, the Delta spokeswoman tells RGN, “allows Delta to move beyond ‘better Wi-Fi’ and toward a future where the onboard experience is fully connected, highly personalized and continuously evolving — powered by the same cloud and digital infrastructure customers rely on every day on the ground.”

She adds:

In addition to the second-to-none upload capacity that will allow customers to instantly share files and photos before they land, we see this partnership as a launchpad for more brand experiences that can innovate at scale for years to come.

Delta plans to integrate AWS, Amazon Leo and other Amazon technologies to elevate the customer experience across the entire travel journey.

Delta joins JetBlue as the second publicized carrier to adopt Amazon Leo-powered IFC (previously called Kuiper), which will be supported by more than 3,000 Ka-band LEO satellites.

The constellation is in the process of being built out, and Amazon recently accelerated its satellite launch cadence to meet FCC milestones. Amazon Leo now boasts 241 Ka-band LEO satellites in orbit, following the successful 4 April launch by ULA of another 29 satellites.

A multi-network approach, at least in the near-term

Since the Delta-Amazon announcement dropped, Delta has received some harsh criticism from travel bloggers and others who believe its decision not to tap SpaceX Starlink for IFC in the near-term and instead wait for Amazon Leo in 2028, will place Delta at a disadvantage to Starlink customer — and challenger to its ‘premier US premium carrier’ crown — United Airlines.

Will Delta’s gamble pay off?

The carrier is not a newbie to LEO connectivity. Indeed, for more two years, it has been putting the building blocks in place to flexibly exploit LEO connectivity pipes as part of a multi-network approach that doesn’t see management wedded to, and some might argue ‘at the mercy of’ any single provider.

While Hughes is currently powering high-capacity GEO IFC on Delta’s RJs, the satellite operator and aero ISP is the process of bringing its Hughes Fusion product (GEO + Eutelsat OneWeb LEO) to the carrier’s Boeing 717s (about which we hope to receive an update at AIX 2026.) Select A321neos and A350s are also expected to be fitted with Fusion.

Viasat, meanwhile, powers IFC on the remainder of Delta’s fleet, bar a single 2Ku-fitted A350-900, which RGN can confirm is now in the process of being modified with Viasat’s GM-40 equipment. Notably, the GM-40 terminal is multi-orbit capable, and Viasat has already inked an agreement with Telesat for Lightspeed Ka-band LEO capacity to support its Amara-branded GEO/LEO IFC solution in the market when the service is available in 2028.

Given the anomaly faced by Viasat on its ViaSat-3 F1 satellite, which reduced throughput to less than ~10%, it is perhaps understandable that travel bloggers are not thinking about the satellite operator’s latest F2 satellite, an ultra-high-capacity asset which recently reached its orbital slot.

We do think about F2, however. There’s a lot riding on this bird.

Three weeks ago, Viasat announced on LinkedIn that its next steps would be “reflector deployment, in-orbit testing followed by handover and terrestrial network integration, in readiness for expected service entry across the Americas by May.”

Asked by RGN if antenna deployment has been undertaken and if Viasat can share any color on its initial testing of the system, a Viasat spokesman said: “We are planning an announcement upon completion of final deployments — stay tuned for more to come.”

Of note, some Delta passengers using IFC via the capacity available on F1 on US west coast-Hawaii routes already believe they’re on Starlink.

Perhaps Delta management is privy to an F2 update that we are not.

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Featured image credited to Jason Rabinowitz