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Elon Musk has hit back at 
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian after the airline chief reportedly cited Musk’s reputation as a reason for rejecting Starlink. Bastian reportedly told staff during a company event that the carrier turned down Starlink because “we do not want to be with Elon Musk. Trust me.”
Replying on X to a report on Bastian’s comments by aviation blogger Gary Leff, the SpaceX CEO said of Bastian that “he will lose his job over this.” Delta has faced criticism for choosing Amazon Leo over Starlink: while the latter is already live across hundreds of rival aircraft, Amazon Leo has faced significant delays and won’t be available on Delta planes until 2028 at the earliest.
Bastian’s comments were first reported by aviation insider JonNYC as the latest flashpoint in a dispute that has run since March, when Delta chose Amazon Leo over Starlink. Bastian reportedly told employees that, while Delta tested Starlink back in 2022, it did not want to partner with Elon Musk due to his personal reputation. Bastian is alleged to have said of Musk that:
“If you know his reputation, it’s all true what they say about him.”
Musk posted his reply under View from the Wing writer Gary Leff’s X post sharing the report. Musk has repeatedly criticized Delta’s decision to back the delayed Amazon Leo program, suggesting it would leave the Atlanta-based carrier years behind rivals such as American Airlines and United Airlines, both of which have partnered with Starlink.
A day earlier, Musk commented on a separate post about United’s rapidly growing Starlink-equipped fleet, which has risen to over 600 aircraft, stating that Delta will “lose a lot of customers” for choosing Amazon Leo. He later took another swipe at Delta, joking that its lack of Starlink connectivity would make internet access impossible for an AI agent.
Delta Waits For Amazon Leo As Rivals Push Ahead With Starlink
Delta announced in March that Amazon Leo would provide its next-generation in-flight Wi-Fi, with installations on an initial 500 aircraft set to begin in 2028. United, meanwhile, is believed to have more than 600 aircraft with Starlink and is aiming for over 1,000 aircraft by the end of 2026. United claims that Wi-Fi satisfaction scores on its Starlink flights are more than twice that of other connected aircraft.
American has also partnered with Starlink to equip 500 narrowbody planes starting in early 2027, while Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Southwest Airlines already offer Starlink and continue to expand their rollout across their respective fleets. Globally, more than 20 airlines offer Starlink Wi-Fi onboard, and the company has dozens more airlines signed up.
Amazon Leo, meanwhile, is still in the early stages of deployment. As of July, Amazon had around 400 Leo satellites in orbit, compared with more than 10,000 Starlink satellites. JetBlue, which signed an agreement with Amazon in 2025 and is targeting a 2027 launch, is currently the only other US airline to have announced a Leo deal.
Why Delta Chose Amazon Leo Over Starlink
Delta has pointed to the wider benefits of its Amazon partnership, including deeper integration of Amazon Web Services and other Amazon technologies into its Delta Sync portal. Delta already uses AWS extensively, having migrated nearly 600 applications to the cloud since 2020.
It has cited Amazon’s retailing power, Prime Video and gaming technology as other possible perks for customers. Bastian has also claimed that Amazon’s product offers a “much lower price point” than Starlink, as well as potentially beating the SpaceX product on bandwidth and reliability.
During negotiations with SpaceX, Delta was reportedly adamant that passengers would have to connect to Starlink through its Delta Sync portal. Musk said at the time that SpaceX requires “no annoying ‘portal’ to use Starlink,” adding that Delta wanted to make connectivity “painful, difficult and expensive for their customers.” Delta subsequently rejected this, claiming that Delta Sync integration would have been possible under Starlink’s terms.
