Hey everyone…it’s time for another Wi-Fi update…the weeks are zooming by and the number of equipped planes is increasing fast.
We’ve now completed 52.9% of the pre-merger Delta domestic fleet with a total of 171 aircraft flying with inflight Wi-Fi. That’s more than 650 daily flights. We also launched a 30 day flight pass this month which offers unlimited Wi-Fi access for $49.95.
Here are the latest stats:
MD88 - 117 aircraft
MD90 - 16 aircraft
B737-800: 1 aircraft
B757-200 - 37 aircraft
MD-88 Tail Numbers: All
MD-90 Tail Numbers: All
B737-800 Tail Numbers: 3742
B757-200 Tail Numbers : 608, 610, 615, 617, 619, 621, 625, 628-630, 632-633, 638-640, 645, 647, 650-651, 654, 667, 672, 679, 684-685, 690-692, 694, 696-697, 6701, 6705, 6711, 6713, 6902, 6904
What are your thoughts on the new 30 day pass and the Wi-Fi price points overall?
Chris B.
Sr. Product Manager, IFE
June 15th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Great job on the wifi. It worked well on two recent flights using both Blackberry and iPod Touch.
I’d like to see a yearly subscription or something like buy 10 uses, get 2 free, etc.
June 16th, 2009 at 9:51 am
I recently sat next to a marketing manager who brought up the WiFi (he flies every week). His thought was that he would never pay the current price for shorter flights but might see paying if he was on a much longer flight. He point blank said, “In my opinion, Delta is losing a lot of money by keeping the price so high.”
He also thought Delta should do a monthly rate, but his thoughts were more in the $20 - $30 range. He also mentioned that it would be great if there were a free website that everyone could log on to that had the Sky magazine as well as more frequently updated information. His thought was that he reads the Sky magazine on the first of every month and then has nothing else to read on board.
Don’t know if this helps any, but it is straight from a person that is on 2 Delta flights at least 2x a week.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Pricing is okay — a bit high for the 3h+ flights — but it makes most sense for you to do a day pass rather than a flight pass. More than 50% of Delta customers connect in a hub to get from point A to point Z; in doing so if they want to use WiFi on both segments they are going to have to pay twice. I think that it would make most sense that you just have a day access rate (make it $10.95 or so) and any flights that you fly that day should be included in the rate.
The $49.95 monthly rate is a bit high given that you don’t have any RJs or pre-merger NW aircraft covered at this point, but once you do have greater coverage on those sets of planes (as well as the remainder of the DL fleet), I’d gladly pay $49.95 a month for unlimited access across all fleet types. Right now the $49.95 is a bit much given the fact that it is hit-or-miss as to whether or not WiFi is going to be available on the plane.
June 16th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
I have used it a few times and I love it. The problem with $50 is that it is to high to expense on a regular basis. what about $29.95, easier to pass or a combined Sky Club Wifi for and extra $240 a year?
June 18th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
You are making quite a big of progress, how many aircraft are you adding WiFi to a day now that you have the program in full swing?
June 20th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Slightly off topic, but one thing I’ve wondered is what is the relation between tail numbers, ship number, and N numbers. Also do the last two letters of the N number mean anything? I thought it might be airline as during a recent stop at Narita most of the planes ended in either NW or DL, but one ended in US and most USAir planes seem to end in us. Perhaps an article on numbers would be of general interest and not just interest to me.
June 22nd, 2009 at 1:17 pm
It would be awesome if you could buy WiFi access using SkyMiles. Frankly, I never get to use my miles because my travel dates never coincide with blackout dates, so it would be nice if I can finally use them for something!
June 22nd, 2009 at 3:09 pm
The key to pricing, IMHO, is to find a price point that can be expensed at most companies. I don’t think that the monthly pass works for this, because people who are likely to use a monthly pass (the very frequent traveler) would likely be better served annually while less frequent travelers like myself (ever 6 weeks or so) would be better off with something like a weekly or 10-day pass.
My suggestion would be a 10-day pass, which would cover out-and-back for a one-week trip. Price that around $24.99 and you might have a winner. That compares quite favorably to the going rate of wifi access at hotels, for example, and the 10-day time horizon is such that the benefits are clearly visible.
I’d also like to see more seats providing power for laptops, and that’s something for which I would be willing to spend miles and/or dollars.
June 25th, 2009 at 4:15 am
Current rates are too high - while I’m not a pricing analyst for Delta, I can tell you that it is doubful you will see the anticipated revenue from this expenditure if you keep those rates at those price points. While Wi-Fi is something sought after on flights - with the economy the way it is, and with Delta leading the pack on add-on fees (and increasing Northwest’s fees, so much for the “best of both airlines” but i digress), many fliers, both business and leisure will not be able to participate or will opt out and just wait the two-three hours until they land as they will already have spent quite a bit on additional fees (whether it be for baggage, being “allowed” to stand-by for a flight, or the fees associated with being “allowed” to book an award flight less than 30 days of departure).
If you want to see Wi-Fi start out great - the pricing levels should be as such $4.95 for 3 hrs or less flights (considering that you really only get less than two hours of useage due to the 30 minute windows of ascending and descending due to restrictions on using electronic devices) and $6.95 for flights longer than 3 hours. Additionally, $6.95 should be the price allowed for a one day pass - esp since more travellers will be connecting through Delta terminals as capacity is dropped and more direct flights are cut out of smaller cities and instead routed through Atlanta or Detroit. A months pass should cost no more than $29.95. Anything more than that, and you will not find any business travellers who will be able to expense that, or any leisure travellers who can afford that. Another way to look at this is - Don’t be GREEDY Delta! If you have a passenger who is flying so much on your airline that they may need a month’s pass for the Wi-Fi - why nickel and dime them - they are already providing you with a fairly large cash-flow. REWARD these frequent fliers - dont punish them and charge them exoborant (sp?) rates for utilizing a service such as this.
Delta - you are in an interesting situation. If you price this service right and amend it to the levels I suggested, you have the ability to seriously cut into AirTran’s business by offering a Value-Added service at Value oriented prices. Right now - they prices aren’t “value oriented” - and will do nothing to lure travellers away from AirTran. And essentially - isnt that what you want? Yeah yeah, so you may lose $5 from your original $10+ pricing structure - but isnt that a small cost to pay for the opportunity to possibly fill seats that would’ve gone empty and instead transfer those empty seats to your competitor. Just something to think about…..