ARLINGTON, Texas - Based on feedback from customers and employees, Delta has decided to filter adult content from the free wi-fi service it plans to offer on select flights beginning next month.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Delta previously planned to have flight attendants handle situations when online content might be deemed inappropriate by other passengers and/or airline employees, but changed its policy after customers and flight attendants gave their feedback.
"Blocking will be limited in scope and will be for sites that few, if any, would question are inappropriate to be viewed on an aircraft," Delta spokesman Kent Landers told the AJC. "Our focus is to achieve a balanced approach."
Several airline companies have decided to offer free wi-fi service on select flights, but the issue of adult content has remained hazy in some cases. American Airlines plans to have attendants make judgment calls in cases where other passengers complain, but that airline's employees asked through their union - the Association of Professional Flight Attendants - that the company consider using some type of filtering system. American Airline officials have said they are still considering their options.
"Our policy is to provide wi-fi capabilities the way customers are most familiar using [them] at home, office, coffee shops and on the road - with unfiltered connections that allow customers to get what they need, when they need it," Tim Smith, a spokesman for the Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines, wrote of the company's decision in an email to news outlets last month.
JetBlue is another airline offering Internet access on flights, but that company is employing filtering software.
Delta officials told the AJC they are working with Aircell, the airline's wi-fi provider, to block inappropriate content.
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