The internet has become quite essential for every human being, and when they have to fly, the extra cost they have to pay for the WiFi becomes out of their interest. Though if required, many do not mind spending the money. But what if one gets it for free? Pretty cool. Right?
On Thursday, Delta Air Lines announced that starting from 13th May, the company will start testing free WiFi on its aircraft for a period of two weeks. There will be 55 of the Delta domestic aircraft which will get to test the free WiFi, and the crew will notify the passengers onboard if their flight is also a part of the test.
The company has said that the test includes getting the feedback from the passengers, see how the free WiFi works, and to test the strain on the system. Providing free WiFi on the flight can be a bit of a difficult task, as the number of the users will automatically increase and handling such a big number of passengers in the air will be a challenge. It may also stress the plane’s bandwidth.
According to the Wallstreet Journal, the Delta passengers will be able to read articles and open their emails through the free WiFi, but not stream online videos. Delta is already providing free movies and video streaming on the plane partnering with the other media companies.
Gogo is the WiFi network provider for Delta Air Lines, and according to Gogo, currently, only 12 per cent of the passengers use the paid WiFi. Gogo has also expressed the concern that if WiFi is offered free for the passengers, there can be issues with the bandwidth of the plane itself.
The test will require Gogo to increase the bandwidth of the network it provides, and this will lead to more expenditure on the WiFi from Delta. Though it is beneficial for Gogo only, it depends on the company if it is ready to provide such large bandwidth to the airline or not. If not, Delta is free to move on to other options. Currently, JetBlue is the only airlines in the U.S. offering free WiFi to its passengers. Now we need to see how the tests turn out to be after two weeks for Delta Air Lines.
Yashica is a Software Engineer turned Content Writer, who loves to write on social causes and expertise in writing technical stuff. She loves to watch movies and explore new places. She believes that you need to live once before you die. So experimenting with her life and career choices, she is trying to live her life to the fullest.