Delta to Equip More Than 30,000 Flight Crew Members With iPads and iPhones

[MacRumors]

Delta plans to equip more than 23,000 flight attendants with iPhones and 14,000 pilots with iPad Pro models, according to a leaked internal email that Delta told Fortune is legitimate.

Flight attendants currently use Nokia Lumia 1520 phablets, which will be replaced by the iPhone 7 Plus as an in-flight point of sale and customer service tool.

Delta pilots are currently using Surface tablets in the flight deck as an electronic flight bag, with those tablets set to be replaced with the iPad Pro.

Though Delta is transitioning away from Microsoft products as it adopts the iPhone and iPad, the email says Delta "continues to maintain a strong and positive partnership with Microsoft." Some of the apps used on the iPhone 7 Plus are powered by Microsoft Dynamics.

The hardware change is pard of an "overall Delta hardware refresh" to standardize on a 10.5-inch form factor, a Delta spokesperson said.

iPhones and iPads will begin rolling out to flight attendants and pilots next year.

Article Link: Delta to Equip More Than 30,000 Flight Crew Members With iPads and iPhones

 

[Markoth]

I'm sure this will aid in their employees' future battles with their paying customers. Perhaps this will give them a strategic edge in the ring.

Heh, heh.

 

[btrach144]

This shouldn't be shocking considering that the Nokia 1520 hasn't been made in years. Microsoft's biggest mistake was tying the Surface tables as part of the deal to include 1520 devices.

If they hadn't done that, I believe Delta would have stuck with the Surface devices in the cockpit.

 

[Pbrutto]

 

[Iconoclysm]

This shouldn't be shocking considering that the Nokia 1520 hasn't been made in years. Microsoft's biggest mistake was tying the Surface tables as part of the deal to include 1520 devices.

If they hadn't done that, I believe Delta would have stuck with the Surface devices in the cockpit.

They're honestly much better off with a more thin client experience like the iPad anyway.

 

[dontwalkhand]

There goes yet another company switching from Windows Phone to iOS!

 

[Michael Scrip]

There goes yet another company switching from Windows Phone to iOS!

There couldn't have been that many companies using Windows Phones in the first place, right?

 

[joueboy]

I would love to see a news Delta passenger beaten with iPad Pro.

 

[DeepIn2U]

I’m very curious if this new deal of 30K units will be realized into the new quarter, the previous quarter or as per ongoing shipment and receiving units during the upgrade cycle.

There goes yet another company switching from Windows Phone to iOS!

Not a surprise since Microsoft officially announced in september no further development of Windows Mobile: all hardware partnerships ceased, only security updates patched for Windows Mobile 10 devices for the next few months. Any other Windows Mobile device ended support yesterday as end of life.
[doublepost=1508801133][/doublepost]

There couldn't have been that many in the first place, right?

30K units sounds like a LOT to me for one Corporation. What happened to all those “developers, developers, developers, developers”?!? Also why is Biofore still in charge of OS design if the majority of Windows 8/10 users loathe the tile design, and now with Windows Mobile dead?!

 

[Michael Scrip]

30K units sounds like a LOT to me for one Corporation.

Oh sorry.... I was meant not many companies using Windows Phones in the first place... as stated in the earlier comment.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Oh sorry.... I was meant not many companies using Windows Phones in the first place... as stated in the earlier comment.

Yeah I know. This will continue as a trend of transition.

 

[Nicksd84]

iOS proliferation in the enterprise is truly astounding. I work for a benefits consulting company. We’re iOS centric for mobile devices and virtually every client we work with is the same.

 

[BWhaler]

Let’s hope those pilots are not running iOS 11

 

[ThomasJL]

While I admire Steve Jobs and his work with Apple, even if he were alive today and I happened to be a bigger Apple fan than ever before, I would still not fly on Delta nor any other US airline just because they switched to using Apple products. US airline companies have the worst service. Apple treats their customers with respect. US airline companies treat their customers with disrespect and even hostility. I will always be willing to pay a little more to fly overseas with a non-US airline. That is how much I dislike my several past experiences with US airline companies.

 

[PickUrPoison]

While I admire Steve Jobs and his work with Apple, even if he were alive today and I happened to be a bigger Apple fan than ever before, I would still not fly on Delta nor any other US airline just because they switched to using Apple products. US airline companies have the worst service. Apple treats their customers with respect. US airline companies treat their customers with disrespect and even hostility. I will always be willing to pay a little more to fly overseas with a non-US airline. That is how much I dislike my several past experiences with US airline companies.

Delta doesn’t expect any additional business due to switching to Apple products. They’re just making the smartest business decision for their requirements.

US airlines customer service deficiencies certainly won’t be cured by switching smartphone/tablet vendors, any more than changing their employees’ uniform provider would.

 

[DeepIn2U]

I’m curious which mobile OS will Microsoft employees switch to? Hmmm.

 

[BigBossTony]

The

While I admire Steve Jobs and his work with Apple, even if he were alive today and I happened to be a bigger Apple fan than ever before, I would still not fly on Delta nor any other US airline just because they switched to using Apple products. US airline companies have the worst service. Apple treats their customers with respect. US airline companies treat their customers with disrespect and even hostility. I will always be willing to pay a little more to fly overseas with a non-US airline. That is how much I dislike my several past experiences with US airline companies.

You think US airline companies are the worst because you haven’t try Air Canada

 

[Sam_S]

There goes yet another company switching from Windows Phone to iOS!

They don't have much choice since Windows Phone is done? They can't just keep on using unsupported technology.

 

[truthertech]

This shouldn't be shocking considering that the Nokia 1520 hasn't been made in years. Microsoft's biggest mistake was tying the Surface tables as part of the deal to include 1520 devices.

If they hadn't done that, I believe Delta would have stuck with the Surface devices in the cockpit.

Why? If they wanted the Surface they could have kept them and simply changed phones. No, more and more businesses are switching to Apple ecosystem for superior performance, lower support costs and security.
[doublepost=1508829301][/doublepost]

They don't have much choice since Windows Phone is done? They can't just keep on using unsupported technology.

They have plenty of choices as far as phones and tablets, yet they chose Apple.

 

[Richdmoore]

Jeppesen & iPad simply rule the efb (electronic flight bag) segment for airline/corporate use of electronic charts. Delta was the exception while they were using the Microsoft tablets.

It’s not that surprising they no longer wanted to keep reinventing the wheel on the surface tablets when the iPad has much more use/vetting already done by other air carriers.

 

[Busdrver]

Let’s hope those pilots are not running iOS 11

The company I fly for made it mandatory for its approximately 5000 pilots to upgrade to IOS 11 about 2 weeks ago.

They always make sure there will be no problems or compatibility issues with our required apps before clearing us to update the IOS on the company issued Air 2.

 

[4nNtt]

I’m curious which mobile OS will Microsoft employees switch to? Hmmm.

Probably both, but they seem to be preferring iOS. It could be they see Apple as less of a competitor then Google or maybe just because iOS is easier to deploy in an enterprise. Fewer models to validate in the environment and more management features. Not sure at Microsoft, but most enterprise environments give very few Android options to choose from. Many always allow the latest iPhone, but take a long time to approve new Android devices forcing employees in to an older model.

 

[BWhaler]

The company I fly for made it mandatory for its approximately 5000 pilots to upgrade to IOS 11 about 2 weeks ago.

They always make sure there will be no problems or compatibility issues with our required apps before clearing us to update the IOS on the company issued Air 2.

Good to know. It does worry me Apple is still cowboy with releases like it’s still the small outsoder, not the industry leader who has safety and healthy and security responsibilities with its software.

(Love your screen name btw, if you are indeed a pilot...funny stuff...)

 

[Mtmspa]

Maybe the high failure rate of the surface made it unacceptable for the pilots to depend on.

This reminds me of the NFL and how they were forced to the surface and hate them.

 

[technole]

While I admire Steve Jobs and his work with Apple, even if he were alive today and I happened to be a bigger Apple fan than ever before, I would still not fly on Delta nor any other US airline just because they switched to using Apple products. US airline companies have the worst service. Apple treats their customers with respect. US airline companies treat their customers with disrespect and even hostility. I will always be willing to pay a little more to fly overseas with a non-US airline. That is how much I dislike my several past experiences with US airline companies.

Sounds like you've been away too long. Delta Air Lines is the most chic of the airlines in the sky, and is usually among the first with very high customer friendly initiatives like free iMessage in the air on all their dual-cabin planes now. If you have T-Mobile you always get at-least an hour of free Wi-Fi in the sky, anywhere. If you have One+, you get it the whole flight all-day.

Full plane the other day, and they needed a few volunteers, they offered a $1000 voucher for just a 1.5 hour flight and to fly just 4 hours later.