• Delta Air Lines unveiled new tech features coming over the next two years.
• Improvements include Bluetooth connectivity for all cabins, new AI tools, and enhanced inflight systems.
• Delta aims to maintain its premium status amid competition from United Airlines.

Delta Air Lines revealed a slew of new customer features coming to its planes soon, from AI support to improved seatback entertainment.

CEO Ed Bastian made the announcement during a splashy keynote address at CES in Las Vegas.

The announcements come as Delta continues to vie for the title of the US' most luxurious airline.

Bluetooth connectivity for every seat

Bluetooth connectivity will be available to premium and economy flyers on select aircraft deliveries from 2026. The amenity was previously only installed in first class on Delta's Airbus A321neo planes.

It joins a handful of other airlines offering Bluetooth to economy cabin flyers, like United Airlines, Spanish flag carrier Iberia, and German leisure carrier Condor.

Also coming new to the cabin in 2026 are enhanced inflight systems with better streaming performance, a "do not disturb" feature, and a seatback translation service. The new screens feature 4K HDR QLED displays, Delta said.

Delta said the new tools will offer better convenience and control. The translation service allows flight attendants to send tailored messages in the flyer's preferred language to their seatback screen.

AI tools

The airline is also adding new AI tools, known as "Delta Concierge," to help travelers ahead of their flight.

Starting in 2025, the app will notify customers when their passports are nearing expiration or if they have specific visa requirements for the destinations they're flying to.

Customers can also see packing guidance based on their destination's weather, and get airport directions to its gates, lounges, and bag drop. The app can also notify customers when a touchless expedited TSA PreCheck lane is available.

The news comes a year after Delta announced at CES 2024 that it would begin offering free WiFi on its aircraft.

Since then, the airline has equipped most of its domestic fleet with complimentary internet. This service is available to SkyMiles members, Delta's free-to-sign-up loyalty program.

Delta's new tech could make it more competitive with United

Delta's new tech is part of its effort to maintain its self-proclaimed "premium" title. The airline boasts luxe DeltaOne Lounges and sliding doors in business class, among other high-class perks.

It has also announced new cabins for its Boeing 757 and Airbus A350 planes, including an upgraded Delta One Suite.

The airline has been capitalizing on the trend of people being willing to pay more for luxury at the front of the aircraft.

But rival United Airlines, whose stock skyrocketed nearly 150% in 2024 and well outperformed its peers, has been a thorn in Delta's side.

As part of its 2021 "United Next" plan, United began installing seatback screens on most of its planes to be more competitive with Delta. This reversed its plan to ditch inflight TVs in the years before.

United also announced that year that all cabins, including economy, on its Boeing 737 Max and some Airbus planes would have Bluetooth.

More recently, in November, United became the first US airline to allow customers to track their luggage AirTag via its app. Delta followed in December.

Uber announced during CES 2025 a multi-year exclusive partnership with Delta Air Lines that allows SkyMiles members to earn miles when they ride with Uber or order delivery through Uber Eats in the United States. The deal means an end of Delta’s partnership with Lyft. The Uber partnership will launch in the spring, giving Uber […]

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Over the last few years, Delta Air Lines’ presence has become a staple of CES, with the airline regularly hosting splashy keynotes. This year, the company has rented out the Sphere to announce its latest slate of updates. These include (can you guess it?) an AI-powered assistant in its app, as well as an updated […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

• A woman managed to sneak onto a Delta Air Lines flight to Paris last Tuesday.
• CNN reported, citing law enforcement officials, that she was to be sent back to the US on Saturday.
• But she was taken off that flight after causing a disturbance, the outlet added.

A woman who flew from the US to Paris without a ticket caused another disturbance on her way back, CNN reported.

She managed to sneak onto Delta Air Lines flight 264 last Tuesday and avoid being detected until the journey was nearly over.

A Transportation Security Administration representative told Business Insider last week that an individual without a boarding pass completed a security screening and then bypassed two identity verification and boarding status stations.

JonNYC, a popular aviation insider on social media, reported she was believed to have been hiding in a restroom during takeoff.

Citing law enforcement sources, CNN reported the woman was supposed to be flown back to the US on Saturday but was removed from the flight before takeoff.

The woman had been kept in a waiting zone at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport because she did not meet the conditions for entering Europe, the outlet previously reported.

Gary Treichler, who sat across the aisle from the woman on Saturday's flight, told CNN, "She kept on saying 'I do not want to go back to the USA. Only a judge can make me go back to the USA."

"She also repeated the Geneva Convention a few times so to me that kind of showed that she was off," he added.

The stowaway is a woman between 55 and 60 years old and has a Russian passport, an airport official told CNN.

Her flight back to the US is yet to be rescheduled, the outlet reported.

"Nothing is of greater importance than matters of safety and security," a Delta spokesperson said in a statement shared with BI after the initial flight.

"That's why Delta is conducting an exhaustive investigation of what may have occurred and will work collaboratively with other aviation stakeholders and law enforcement to that end."

• Delta Air Lines is focusing on premium cabins to boost revenue and outpace economy sales.
• The premium demand is driven by millennials willing to spend more for an elevated experience.
• Delta's president suggested budget carrier Spirit failed because it was too focused on low fares.

Delta Air Lines believes a premium-focused strategy is the secret sauce to success, as outlined during its Investor Day in Atlanta on Wednesday.

President Glen Hauenstein said that premium demand is soaring thanks to millennials willing to pay more for an elevated experience. As such, premium seats — currently about 30% of Delta's inventory — will be a majority focus of any added capacity next year.

By 2027, the airline expects to make more money from premium seats than those in economy.

Hauenstein said focusing on the premium market will help Delta win against budget carriers that depend on low fares to lure in customers.

"I think [post-pandemic demand] had a very different impact on the carriers that were supplying premium products and services, which had a little bit of a downdraft, versus those who were just focused on price that had an incredible cliff to fall off of," he said. "I think we've seen that manifest itself in the bankruptcy we saw filed this week."

Hauenstein is referring to Spirit Airlines' filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday. The low-cost airline has not posted a full-year profit since 2019 and has been forced to lay off staff and sell $500 million worth of planes to stay afloat.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said in a June podcast that passengers prefer experience over low fares and that budget airlines may go out of business without making quality changes.

Breeze Airways CEO David Neeleman gave Business Insider a similar take in November, saying low-cost carriers should stop nickel-and-diming their customers.

Spirit and Frontier have bent to modern flyer expectations. Both overhauled their business models this year to offer more premium perks, such as extra legroom and business-class-like seats. They've also dropped most change and cancel fees.

Delta's presentation on Wednesday set the tone for the coming months, as airlines continue to struggle with high costs driven largely by inflation and labor, which have weighed on profit margins.

While the investments may take years to show full potential, at least in the near term, Delta CEO Ed Bastian has welcomed president-elect Donald Trump as a "breath of fresh air" as opposed to what he described as government "overreach" under the Biden Administration.

Delta's stock price was down about 2% after Wednesday's Investor Day and is up about 57% year-to-date.

Delta is doubling down on premium seats

Delta's premium cabins, including premium-economy upgrades, Delta One business class, and domestic first class, have long been profit drivers. So far, adding more of the expensive seats has been a boon to its bottom line, and it's showing no signs of letting up.

Delta said its Airbus A350-1000 aircraft will be introduced with about 50% premium seats, for example, while the airline plans to add lie-flat business class to A321neo jets.

This all comes after Delta had higher-than-expected earnings in the third quarter, largely anchored by premium seats, even though it was dinged by a costly CrowdStrike outage.

From July through September, Delta generated $5.3 billion in premium revenue compared to $6.3 billion for the economy cabin despite premium taking up less cabin real estate.

Hauenstein said Delta's biggest opportunity to add premium products and services is in the international market, where he said there is short supply but high demand.

He said that increase would come from retiring Boeing 767s, adding new A350-1000s, and reconfiguring existing A350-900s with more Delta One seats.

While executives didn't further discuss the previously hinted-at "business-class-lite" product that would unbundle business class, letting flyers buy only the seat but not other perks like lounge access, Hauenstein said there's revenue opportunity in segmenting premium economy and domestic first.

"That's where a huge revenue base is, and segmentation of that revenue base would potentially drive a significant improvement to the bottom line," he said.