Elon Musk’s Starlink might be the leading satellite internet service in the world, but Delta CEO Ed Bastian thinks Amazon Leo has it beat.
“Amazon brings a lot more than just satellite technology,” Bastian told Bloomberg this week. “They bring great retailing capability and Amazon Prime and video gaming technologies, which Starlink does not have.”
Bastian’s comments come at a time when the rivalry between the two companies is accelerating, and it’s a particularly dangerous moment for SpaceX. The company, which is the newly merged amalgamation of Musk’s space business, his AI startup xAI, and his social media albatross X, filed for a highly consequential IPO, said to hit the Nasdaq in June, and the IPO prospectus was just made public on Wednesday.
The Starlink business is its crown jewel. According to a recent Reuters report, Starlink doubled its operating income last year to $4.42 billion, while the AI division of the new company accounted for 61% of the combined $20.74 billion capital spending in 2025. Those expenses are bound to skyrocket further as Musk forges ahead with his dream to build space-based data centers.
With over 10,000 satellites in orbit and more than 10 million active customers across 160 markets globally, no other satellite internet provider really comes close to SpaceX’s Starlink. Starlink is also the number one provider of in-flight internet connectivity, having signed deals with major airlines like Lufthansa, United, Air France, Southwest, British Airways, and Emirates.
But Amazon Leo, which has around 300 satellites in orbit and no commercial offerings as of yet, is determined to give it a tough fight. Last month, the tech giant acquired Louisiana-based satellite telecommunications company Globalstar, which powers Apple’s “Emergency SOS” features on its latest iPhones and the Apple Watch Ultra 3. As part of the deal, Amazon scored Apple as a client to provide satellite connectivity for Emergency SOS, Find My, and Roadside Assistance in current and future iPhones and Apple Watches, once the deal closes in 2027.
On the internet connectivity side, Leo only had a deal with JetBlue before signing the agreement with Delta back in March. Under the new deal, Amazon will begin providing internet access on 500 Delta aircraft starting in 2028.
The deal must have struck a chord with Musk, who took to X last week to criticize the choice.
“Delta wanted to make it painful, difficult and expensive for their customers,” Musk said in response to a tweet that claimed Delta chose Leo over Starlink because it did not want passengers to connect to the internet via a Starlink portal rather than its own Delta Sync. “SpaceX requires that there be no annoying ‘portal’ to use Starlink. Starlink WiFi must just work effortlessly every time, as though you were at home.”
Delta CEO Bastian, however, seems to disagree with Musk. He told Bloomberg this week that he expected Starlink to “be warning people that we’re going to go with an inferior product,” but was personally not worried about the Amazon partnership.
“I think the opportunities, in terms of the improved bandwidth with a much lower price point than what we’ve ever seen from Starlink, will make a big difference,” Bastian told Bloomberg.