Our first Wi-Fi-equipped MD88
Wi-Fi earned its “Delta wings” today as our first Internet-ready MD88 took to the skies. Engineers from Delta’s TechOps division and Aircell were onboard the aircraft to validate the system’s functionality. This was the first test flight of a Delta aircraft with Aircell’s Gogo broadband Wi-Fi system installed.
I received an e-mail from a colleague onboard at 12:33 p.m. EDT titled “Sent from 33000 feet onboard WiFi a/c” with a 1Mb photo of the engineering team attached. Of course, everyone on the ground was incredibly excited.
So…with the first test flight a success, the next steps include additional testing and obtaining a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) from the FAA. Once the Wi-Fi system is certified, we’ll begin installs on additional MD88 aircraft in the fleet. This aircraft will begin flying with the activated system the first week of November.
For more exclusive pictures check out our official Flickr account. Stay tuned as we target early December for a large-scale roll-out of in-flight broadband Wi-Fi!
Chris
Manager, Global Product Development
In-Flight Entertainment
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