Delta Air Lines this fall will equip more than 20,000 flight attendants with handheld Nokia Lumia 1520 phablets, which will serve as their on-board manual and in-flight sales device as well as a platform for future, more personalized in-flight customer service.
The Lumia 1520 features a larger format, 6-inch screen and will replace the smaller Lumia 820 already in the hands of Delta on-board professionals.
“Delta has made a number of employee and customer-facing technology innovations in recent years and the introduction of the phablet is the latest designed to further improve on-board service by using technology to personalize the customer experience,” Delta Air Lines spokesperson Kate D. Modolo told Loyalty360. “The phablet also provides a more intuitive platform to allow for electronic access to the On-Board Manual carried by every flight attendant, eliminating the five-pound paper manual at an expected savings of over $1 million per year.”
Modolo said that carrying a phablet that’s connected to the company anywhere in the world means that flight attendants will have finger-tip access to customer-provided information that can be used to help guide how they interact with customers and increase the level of personalized service.
“This is just one way we can differentiate Delta’s onboard service experience,” she said.
Modolo said Delta has been a leader in innovating with technology to improve both the customer and employee experiences.
“For example, last fall we announced that all pilots would receive Surface 2 tablets to be used as electronic flight bags and be developed into a multi-functional device that can be integrated across the airline operation,” she explained.
From both the manual and customer service perspectives, flight attendants will have access to current information at the touch of a screen so they can use the information available to deliver personalized customer service.
“Personalized customer service and a more user-friendly manual platform are both goals of this technology,” Modolo added.
In addition to its functionality as an in-flight sales device and replacement for the on-board manual, the Nokia Lumia 1520 phablet, running Windows Phone 8.1, will enable flight attendants to take customer meal orders, receive detailed information about their flight and provide information for personalized service, including customers’ frequent flyer status and potential need for special services during flight.
Devices will be distributed starting in October with all flight attendants receiving the device by the end of the year. The solution was developed jointly by Microsoft, Avanade, Nokia and AT&T and is the latest in a number of employee and customer-facing technology innovations Delta has made in recent years.