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Welcome to a weekly feature on the Renés Points blog. Each week this series covers in a “rookie” way either a Delta or travel related theme and attempts to break down to a basic level each topic. You can read up on all the previous posts HERE. Now on to this week’s feature.
Delta has a LOT of jets. While the number changes from month to month at the current time over 650 not counting their regional connection partners. Just about all of them have some type of Gogo Wifi but only a little over 100 have the FAST Gogo or what is called 2Ku service.
While all of the international birds have the faster service, most of us are on a weekly basis flying shorter domestic routes. Is there a way to find out if the one we are on will have the upgraded service? I reached out to Gogo to see if they published a live list and was told:
“[That] information is considered proprietary, and it isn’t made available.” – Gogo representative
Well, that is a shame Gogo. A live list that is updated when each one is done would be sweet to reference and see the progress as well.
Delta is a bit more helpful and has on THIS page on Delta.com with a percentage meter of how many of a type / family of aircraft have been upgraded. But is there a way to find out about a specific aircraft you are about to fly on? Mostly yes! Take a look:
First off either go to FlightRadar24.com or install the FlightRadar24 app on your phone and then search for the flight number you are looking for i.e. the Delta flight number. I have taken as an example DL2500 inside the app. What we are looking for is the registration number for the airframe we will be on.
Then pull up this page on FlyerTalk and search the page from a FlyerTalker who maintains a list for the airframe we will be on and see if 2Ku is listed for that specific jet.
Simple right? But clearly this is not perfect. There are any number of things that can kibosh our efforts. For example, Delta often swaps out aircraft (either with the same type of airframe or another type of jet). This could mean our 2Ku bird is flying another route and the “new” one is not upgraded to 2Ku.
The best choice would clearly be an up-to-date live list on Delta.com and reps I reached out to said they would consider this idea. I would even like this idea taken a step further to integrate this list into the Delta.com booking page. That way you could, when booking a flight, use 2Ku as a search factor for choosing what birds to fly if fast Wifi really matters to you.
Anyway, at least now you know a reasonably reliable way to see if your Delta flight will or will not have fast Gogo Wifi or not! – René
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You say the international birds have faster service but on the Delta page it says they are just KU not 2KU. That is the slower version is it not?
@Leo – Still faster than ground based.