Delta’s CEO rejected Starlink, and Elon Musk is the reason why
“We do not want to be with Elon Musk. Trust me.”
Delta doesn't want to do business with Musk. By Shutterstock / Cybernews.
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- Delta reportedly chose Amazon Leo over Starlink because its CEO did not want to work with Elon Musk.
- Amazon Leo installation on 500 Delta aircraft is projected to start in 2028.
- United and Southwest are nearing completion of Starlink rollouts while Delta waits for Amazon’s service.
- Starlink has more than 11,000 satellites, while Amazon Leo had about 396 in orbit in late September.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Starlink is already being rolled out by dozens of airlines worldwide, but Delta isn’t one of them. It’s chosen Amazon for its low-Earth-orbit satellite WiFi – even though the service isn’t available yet. The reason, it seems, is Elon Musk himself.
Customers are happy to use Starlink when they’re flying – it’s fast and glitchless. That’s why United Airlines and Southwest Airlines are close to completing installation on their fleets.
But Delta Air Lines, maintaining the third-largest commercial airline fleet in the world, has chosen a different path.
Musk’s reputation to blame
Delta CEO Ed Bastian has reportedly made clear recently why the company isn’t choosing Starlink: it’s Elon Musk, the billionaire founder and CEO of SpaceX, the parent company of Starlink Services.
According to a prominent and widely followed aviation insider, known on X as JonNYC, Bastian told Delta employees at 2 internal events that the firm chose not to go with Starlink because they didn’t want to do business with the world’s richest individual.
JonNYC has allegedly been sent Bastian’s quotes and said he didn’t know whether they were entirely accurate. But the Delta CEO reportedly said, “We don’t want to be with Elon Musk. Trust me.”
At a different, earlier event, Bastian also said that Delta actually “tested” with Starlink but decided not to partner with Musk: “If you know his reputation, it’s all true what they say about him.”
In March 2026, the company announced it had chosen Amazon Leo as the WiFi provider for “tens of millions of customers who fly Delta every year.”
The problem for many of those customers is that the initial installation of Amazon Leo on 500 Delta aircraft is projected to begin only in 2028. Moreover, Leo won’t even enter beta until next year, and by then, United and Southwest will be done with their Starlink rollouts.
Respecting deals is important, which may be why Delta isn’t suddenly changing its plans, even though Amazon Leo hasn’t been tested.
Starlink leads in quantity
There’s no comment from Delta’s camp, but Musk is already criticizing the airline on his social network, warning it could bleed customers as rival firms already use Starlink across their fleets.
Reacting to another post about Bastian’s alleged trashing of him, Musk also responded: “He will lose his job over this.”
Delta passengers can already surf the web in-flight. The Delta Sync WiFi, which uses Viasat satellite service, is already available on more than 1,200 aircraft and is free to SkyMiles members.
Still, Starlink undoubtedly has a major head start. Amazon Leo had only roughly 396 satellites in orbit in late September, whereas Starlink’s constellation already exceeds 11,000 satellites.
