The News:

First announced at CES 2023, Delta Sync has started rolling out on domestic mainline flights equipped with free Wi-Fi by T-Mobile. Described as a platform that serves up personalized content, access, and offers, passengers use their own device to log in to their personalized front page. Passengers can access entertainment options such as a free Paramount+ trial and access to New York Times games. In addition to the in-flight exclusive entertainment and offer options from select partners, there is a “My Trip” feature that houses the traveler’s itinerary, and offers the ability to reserve a restaurant, access content from Atlas Obscura and entry to Delta self-service tools See the news from Delta here. 

Delta Airlines Rolling Out Personalized Digital Experience for Mobile Devices

Analyst Take:

Delta has certainly been putting more focus on the passenger experience. During his keynote speech at the Qualtrics X4 conference, Ed Bastian spoke to the fact that people are prioritizing experiences over “things,” and that Delta would be striving to provide the type of experience that has passengers thinking about their next trip before they are back from the last one.

Part of delivering a good customer experience is personalization, an area that in the general travel and hospitality space has some room for improvement. Travelers crave a more tailored travel experience and if done well, this can deepen and expand purchasing behaviors, increase customer satisfaction and brand loyalty, and provide those moments of delight during a travel experience that a customer may, in turn, share with others.

While this preliminary rollout may look a little lean, it is just one piece of the larger picture of what Delta wants to accomplish and offer. Delta has plans to partner with additional premium brands, as well as bring more personalized destination-specific content and experiences into play. Later in the year, Delta Sync on Demand will be introduced and include personalized entertainment experiences on seatback screens to deliver an experience similar to what customers might have at home on their smart TVs. And, you will not have to worry about finishing a movie before your next connection or flight. The system will be able to remember where passengers left off on a movie or show from a previous flight.

A recent survey by Clootrack examined airline passenger concerns, and one finding was that economy class passengers had frustrations with their in-flight experiences, including areas such as cramped, narrow seating and lack of in-flight entertainment. 

This offering from Delta seems to span all airline classes, and by offering it via the SkyMiles program, the airline will be giving current members the benefit of these exclusive features and may also drive new SkyMiles membership. These types of enhanced experiences may not take the pain of any negative operational challenges that cause a friction point along a traveler journey, but they can be important tools in giving customers the personalization they want that will hopefully equate to brand loyalty when booking their next flight.