Starlink wars: Elon Musk, Delta's Ed Bastian feud over in-flight Wi-Fi

Elon Musk and Delta Air Lines ( DAL ) CEO Ed Bastian are reportedly feuding over a topic near and dear to frequent fliers' hearts: in-flight Wi-Fi (or lack thereof).

The round started when an airline industry watcher posted remarks Bastian reportedly made at a Delta company event. Regarding SpaceX's ( SPCX ) Starlink satellite service, Bastian allegedly said, "We do not want to be with Elon Musk. Trust me."

The watcher, who goes by the X handle @xJonNYC, also reported that at an earlier event, Bastian said Delta had tested Starlink but did not want to partner with Musk: "If you know his reputation, it's all true what they say about him." JonNYC said the quotes reached him secondhand and he could not verify them. In a follow-up, he cited a "very solid" source who said the sticking points were "mainly financial ones."

JonNYC added the disclaimer after the story blew up:

Delta did not immediately respond when reached for comment.

Disclaimer or not, Musk did not let this one go. "He will lose his job over this," he wrote on Tuesday, replying to a View from the Wing post about the remarks by travel blogger Gary Leff.

A few hours later, Musk kept at it. "Best way to sandbox an AI is to put it on a Delta flight — it will have no chance of accessing the Internet!" Musk posted . The post passed 5 million views. Sandboxing means walling off an AI system from outside networks, usually for safety testing.

Musk had already taken a shot at Delta on Monday. "Delta will lose a lot of customers," he replied to author John LeFevre, who posted that United ( UAL ) has more than 600 Starlink-equipped planes and Delta has zero.

Behind the jokes is a real contest for airline contracts and who can meet the ever-growing demand for reliable and fast in-cabin internet service.

Delta chose Amazon's ( AMZN ) Leo satellite network instead of Starlink earlier this year, but it also uses Viasat and EchoStar's Hughes for its current service. Delta reportedly preferred Amazon because the deal could be bundled with Amazon's cloud and content businesses. Amazon also agreed to let passengers connect via Delta's Sync login portal, which Starlink would not allow, Musk confirmed , adding a needless step.

But Starlink service was just fine for Delta's main rivals. United began installing Starlink in 2024. In May, American Airlines ( AAL ) picked Starlink for more than 500 jets, and its stock rose 6% that day. Hawaiian, JetBlue ( JBLU ), and Qatar Airways have also signed on.