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Starlink vs. Viasat Thread Drift

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Old 02-17-2026 | 07:52 AM
  #1  
AverageGPA
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Default Starlink vs. Viasat Thread Drift
Originally Posted by Gunfighter
IMHO USAA went from industry leading tech in the early 2000s to industry lagging a decade or two later. I suspect we will suffer a similar fate, although we are starting from a lagging position already. Not looking forward to our new IT management.
I’m late to this thread, but just want to chime in on this topic specifically and say we’re already in the “industry lagging tech” phase, and at a critical level. Compared to
our counterparts at United, we are being lapped.
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Old 02-17-2026 | 04:53 PM
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immolated
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Originally Posted by DeltaboundRedux
I hear rave reviews of Starlink on United jets.

Seriously hope the top brass are aware of this.
We really missed the boat on Starlink. SpaceX launched their 10,000th satellite this year. Meanwhile Via-sat's single replacement satellite over the pacific still isn't up and running. Imagine paying $$$$ for D1 and having no wifi for 10 hours. Going on several years now.
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Old 02-17-2026 | 05:04 PM
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ancman
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Originally Posted by immolated
We really missed the boat on Starlink. SpaceX launched their 10,000th satellite this year. Meanwhile Via-sat's single replacement satellite over the pacific still isn't up and running. Imagine paying $$$$ for D1 and having no wifi for 10 hours. Going on several years now.
This will become the Microsoft Surface 2.0 — on a larger, customer-facing scale.

Management’s hubris will prevent them from conceding that United had a better idea than them for years to come. By the time their successors take over and reevaluate our Wi-Fi provider, the damage will have already been done.
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Old 02-17-2026 | 06:49 PM
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Originally Posted by ancman
This will become the Microsoft Surface 2.0 — on a larger, customer-facing scale.

Management’s hubris will prevent them from conceding that United had a better idea than them for years to come. By the time their successors take over and reevaluate our Wi-Fi provider, the damage will have already been done.
i have to think its cost driven. Viasat is installed on almost all our aircraft, and starlink isnt cheap. Viasat will work if its fast enough, or our competitors dont opt for thr $$$$ plan.
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Old 02-17-2026 | 07:41 PM
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ancman
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Originally Posted by Flyweight
i have to think its cost driven. Viasat is installed on almost all our aircraft, and starlink isnt cheap. Viasat will work if its fast enough, or our competitors dont opt for thr $$$$ plan.
If Delta’s goal is to offer the most premium product in the industry, then we need to offer the most premium WiFi in the industry. Few things are as important to customers as quality WiFi, particularly HVACs.

Currently, Viasat is decidedly second-tier. Whether it can ever come close to Starlink remains to be seen.
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Old 02-17-2026 | 08:23 PM
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Originally Posted by ancman
If Delta’s goal is to offer the most premium product in the industry, then we need to offer the most premium WiFi in the industry. Few things are as important to customers as quality WiFi, particularly HVACs.

Currently, Viasat is decidedly second-tier. Whether it can ever come close to Starlink remains to be seen.
agree. filler.
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Old 02-17-2026 | 09:57 PM
  #7  
Nantonaku
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Originally Posted by ancman
If Delta’s goal is to offer the most premium product in the industry, then we need to offer the most premium WiFi in the industry. Few things are as important to customers as quality WiFi, particularly HVACs.

Currently, Viasat is decidedly second-tier. Whether it can ever come close to Starlink remains to be seen.
Remember the big conversation we had years ago about this in here? It was around the time of peak [mod edit]. A lot of people thought it was risky doing business with Elon. It wasn’t a good argument at the time and hasn’t aged well. Elon wasn’t going to have power personally to turn off our WiFi. We are doing business with a company. It would be like being scared of buying a ticket on Delta because you are concerned Es is going to decide to not let you on the plane. But here we are, we will never catch up and will always operate an inferior product. The fuel savings from the smaller antenna pays for itself in days. The Viasat bulge is absurd.
Last edited by FangsF15; 02-18-2026 at 04:38 AM. Reason: partisan politics
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Old 02-18-2026 | 02:27 AM
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CBreezy
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Originally Posted by ancman
If Delta’s goal is to offer the most premium product in the industry, then we need to offer the most premium WiFi in the industry. Few things are as important to customers as quality WiFi, particularly HVACs.

Currently, Viasat is decidedly second-tier. Whether it can ever come close to Starlink remains to be seen.
Delta's goal to be the most premium stems only for what they believe people will pay a premium for, and that's reliability. Yes, we are failing at that.. Are there some niche businessmen that want 300mbs to their personal device? I assume, sure. But we haven't had the most expensive or best anything for at least the last two decades. We still have 717s, buy used airplanes like a redneck lottery winner and have ALWAYS been subpar in tech. Is our lack of Wi-Fi in the Pacific a problem? Yeah, I'll concede. But it's also one of the lowest yield markets.
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Old 02-18-2026 | 05:01 AM
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Originally Posted by CBreezy
Delta's goal to be the most premium stems only for what they believe people will pay a premium for, and that's reliability. Yes, we are failing at that.. Are there some niche businessmen that want 300mbs to their personal device? I assume, sure. But we haven't had the most expensive or best anything for at least the last two decades. We still have 717s, buy used airplanes like a redneck lottery winner and have ALWAYS been subpar in tech. Is our lack of Wi-Fi in the Pacific a problem? Yeah, I'll concede. But it's also one of the lowest yield markets.

Even the Pacific is scheduled to have coverage after the launch of the Viasat-3 launch in 2Q26.
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Old 02-18-2026 | 05:29 AM
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Originally Posted by crewdawg
Even the Pacific is scheduled to have coverage after the launch of the Viasat-3 launch in 2Q26.
If it doesn’t debt damaged.
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