Delta invests over $1billion on free internet on Nigeria, other routes

  • Adds more Nollywood movies onboard

 

Nigerian-born Director of the In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC) Platform at Delta Air Lines, Julian Ugochukwu Anugom who is a leading internet revolution onboard the American carrier’s over 4000 daily flights said the carrier has invested over $1 billion on its IFEC on Nigerian and other routes.

While Delta offers free internet service on all its flights, many international airlines still sell their internet service, making it innovative in the global airline industry.

Delta Air Line

Speaking to Aviation Metric  at the airline’s head office in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States, he disclosed that no airline in the world has as many screens as Delta with 165, 000 screens in  Delta airplanes, adding, “There is no airline that even comes anywhere close to that.”

The Owerri, Imo State-born Nigerian who has taken an innovative role in the aviation industry equally disclosed that the Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Ed Bastian had announced that free Wi-Fi on all Delta aircraft, especially on peak-specific international routes including the Atlanta-Lagos, New York routes.

He said, “We have made good improvements, but not completely where we want to be. For instance, when I flew last December, I could tell that the system was significantly improved, but the last hour, an hour and a half to Lagos, we did not have connectivity. We are working on all those. Once we close that gap and get it to where we need it to be, then the next thing we’ll be making it free. And all these things will happen in a few months.”

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He equally disclosed that as a way to prioritise the lucrative Atlanta-Lagos route, the airline had concluded plans to have more Nigerian movies onboard its Lagos flight.

“The last time I told you about the former guy that ran for governorship in Anambra State, Val Ozigbo, who said the same thing. He said he flew and there was only one Nigerian Nollywood movie on board, and he was wondering how Delta does not have more.”

“I had a conversation with the leadership in that space, and we were able to add additional movies, which I am pretty sure you saw. But as my sister here has communicated, she is still not satisfied. She doesn’t want five movies, she wants more”.

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“She wants 20 movies, like she said. So she is going to give a list of additional Nollywood movies to see if we can increase the number of Nollywood movies, which is a fair ask. So it is something that needs to be discussed because you have to understand, that Delta covers a huge breadth of passengers, and we have to get to all those different demographics. So, we will continue making improvements and increasing and adding more flavour to the content that we have on board.”

Anugom further explained that Delta does a lot of research and spends a lot of money towards its customer base.

“For instance, you flew from Nigeria to Atlanta and you ate Jollof rice and Ewa Agoyin, right? There is a huge amount of money that goes into all that analysis to make sure we please our passengers. Delta does a lot, and we try to get towards our passengers and make them happy and make them feel at home”.

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“I have worked in multiple industries, but when I came to Delta, it was just amazing to me how much it focuses on people and the customer experience. The first thing Ed Bastian said was, that we must give our passengers what they want and what they need. The biggest thing was the internet system being free on the airplane. If you go back and check, you will see that many people made different strategies, many companies made different strategic decisions during COVID.”

“The conversation we had earlier with the additional routes that we added this morning gives a free internet system. And that will continue till all Delta routes are free. Yes, we spend a lot of money. It is a lot of cost to Delta. Like I said earlier, our CEO Ed, strongly believes that customer experience makes customers happy, and happy customers will always fly your airplanes”.

Wole Shadare

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