Passengers flying aboard Delta Air Lines’ regional jets will soon have reason to rejoice. By early next year, the US major expects to finish equipping its RJ fleet with the ‘Delta Sync’ free Wi-Fi experience, as powered by broadband satellite connectivity from Hughes Network Systems.
“The rollout of fast, free Wi-Fi to Delta’s regional fleet is progressing, with select CRJ aircraft already equipped and ERJ installations underway,” a Delta spokesperson tells Runway Girl Network.
“All regional aircraft should be equipped with Delta Sync Wi-Fi by early 2026. More than 950 aircraft — or, more than 70% of Delta’s fleet — are already equipped with fast, free Wi-Fi, which is now available on all domestic mainline flights. Before the end of this year, Delta will reach 1,000 Wi-Fi-equipped aircraft.”
Delta has taken a multi-source approach to IFC, with Viasat also a key partner on the Delta Sync program.
The system being deployed on Delta’s RJs, dubbed Hughes Jupiter In-flight, is a high-throughput Ka-band geostationary (GEO) satellite-focused product in the Americas and beyond (with a path to Ka-band MEO and LEO in the future) that uses ThinKom Solutions’ multi-orbit Ka1717 VICTS terminal, which is a more petite configuration than ThinKom’s Ka2517 VICTS for larger aircraft. The kit is replacing legacy air-to-ground IFC hardware on the RJs (the former Gogo product.)
Regional jets across the United States are being fitted and “Delta is doing a fantastic job,” says Reza Rasoulian, senior vice president of the Aviation Business Unit at Hughes.
“From our perspective, it’s going very, very well. You should be able to see a lot of radomes getting onto aircraft,” he tells RGN of the RJ program.
The RJ equipage deal is part of a broader arrangement between Delta and Hughes which will see the US major bring the so-called Hughes Jupiter Fusion product to its Boeing 717s, as well as to select A321neos and A350s.
Hughes Jupiter Fusion blends Ka-band GEO service with Eutelsat OneWeb Ku-band LEO service in a multi-band, multi-orbit, multi-network hybrid that features Hughes’ own LEO-only electronically steerable antenna and ThinKom’s Ka2517 VICTS antenna.
Delta’s spokesperson did not have a fresh update on the 717 equipage program.
But for Hughes’ part, the LEO-only ESA that will be needed to support the Hughes Jupiter Fusion hybrid in commercial aviation is nearly ready for primetime.
Speaking broadly about Hughes’ progress, Rasoulian tells RGN that the ESA will “absolutely” be shippable next year, both for LEO-only aircraft installations and for the hybrid configuration. “We have made fantastic progress. Qualification is done. We’re gearing up for a prototype installation very soon.”
Hughes’ ESA hardware has already debuted in business aviation as part of Gogo’s popular, Eutelsat OneWeb LEO-powered Galileo inflight connectivity service. Gogo’s combined pipeline for both the half-duplex (HDX) and full-duplex (FDX) kit was roughly 1,000 as of 30 September. VistaJet recently announced plans to deploy both HDX and FDX across its fleet of 270 aircraft.
Despite these gains in aviation, Hughes’ wider consumer business faces intense and increasing competition, and is grappling with a cash crunch for the next 12 months.
As such, Hughes Satellite Systems, a subsidiary of EchoStar, warns in a SEC filing that it currently does not have “the necessary cash on hand, projected future cash flows or committed financing to fund its anticipated working capital needs, capital expenditures, interest payments, debt maturities and other contractual obligations over the next twelve months.” It has issued a going concern warning.
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