T-Mobile lands Delta Air Lines 5G contract

The deployment is supposed to ‘enhance connectivity’ across several of Delta’s frontline teams using 5G smartphones, tablets and ruggedized devices.

Flight attendants, airport customer service agents and ground crews will use freshly installed 5G connections to facilitate ‘above-wing and below-wing activities’ such as pre-flight and post-flight procedures, aircraft servicing, catering, baggage handling, and maintenance.

Pilots will enjoy improved connectivity to existing digital tools and resources globally, such as electronic flight bags containing weather information and dispatch services, and Delta Sky Club ambassadors will use better 5G connectivity to talk to above-wing staff ‘for better service delivery and customer satisfaction,’ we’re told.

"Connecting the world also means harnessing world-class connectivity,” said Ranjan Goswami, SVP of Customer Experience Design, Delta Air Lines. “Our collaboration with T-Mobile is unlocking how we serve customers at each step of their journey and ensuring our people have all the information they need at their fingertips to deliver the elevated and welcoming experiences Delta is known for.”

Callie Field, President, T-Mobile Business Group added: “Delta and T-Mobile have a lot in common. We’re both passionate about connecting people and places and delivering exceptional customer experiences along the way. As the leading 5G network in 20 of the nation's busiest airports, we’re eager to put our solutions to work for the benefit of Delta customers and employees.”

Additionally, a dedicated 5G hybrid network from T-Mobile’s 5G Advanced Network Solutions will be deployed to at Delta’s headquarters in Atlanta. This is supposed to provide ‘comprehensive’ 5G coverage indoors and outdoors across the campus, including hangars and technical operations areas.

Research from Dell’Oro last week claimed that full-year private wireless RAN revenues jumped by around 40% in 2023, which propelled the private wireless space to comprise around 2% of the overall RAN market last year. The ‘evolving scope’ of private wireless combined with ‘the fact that the $20 billion+ enterprise RAN opportunity remains largely untapped’ is spurring interest from a broad array of participants across the ecosystem, said Dell’Oro.