A Delta Airlines Airbus A330-323E. Photo: Wikimedia.

Airbus, Delta, OneWeb, Sprint, and Bharti Airtel announced the formation of the Seamless Air Alliance, a coalition that intends to improve access to In-Flight Connectivity for airlines on all routes. By enabling member mobile operators to extend their services into airline cabins, the Seamless Air Alliance will allow them to continuously provide their customers — via satellite technology — with the same high speed, low latency connectivity from ground to air and back again. It will also significantly reduce costs for everyone involved while creating a smooth user experience.

The Alliance, which is looking to enlist additional industry operators beyond the five initial members, aims to eliminate the costs and hurdles commonly associated with acquisition, installation, and operation of data access infrastructure by streamlining system integration and certification, providing open specifications for interoperability, increasing accessibility for passengers, and enabling simple and integrated billing.

“What if the best internet you ever experienced was in the air? Keeping this goal in mind, together, we will enable an affordable and frictionless experience for passengers everywhere,” said Greg Wyler, founder and executive chairman of OneWeb. “With the launch of our first production satellites set for later this year, we’re one step closer to bridging the global digital divide on land and in the air.”

“We are excited to be collaborating with other visionary companies, and that our existing partner Gogo will be joining the alliance as Delta develops a system that not only benefits Delta customers, but the entire airline industry,” said Gil West, Delta’s senior executive vice president and Chief Operating Officer (COO).