Delta Airlines deploys 19,000 Nokia Lumia 820’s to flight attendants

Nokia promised to announce impressive enterprise wins later in August, and has now delivered in spades, with the news that more than 19,000 Delta Air Lines  flight attendants will today begin using new Windows Phone 8 handheld devices to streamline on-board purchasing.

"Delta’s 19,000 in-flight professionals are there for the safety and comfort of our customers, and equipping them with innovative solutions means they can better meet our customers’ needs on board every flight," said Joanne Smith, senior vice president – In-Flight Service. "This is yet another way we’re investing in technology to improve the customer experience."

The Windows Phone 8 device, a Nokia Lumia 820, enables Delta flight attendants to offer:

• Near real-time credit card processing for on-board purchases, including upgrades to Delta’s popular Economy Comfort seating. On-board Economy Comfort upgrades will begin on transcontinental and international flights before being offered on flights across Delta’s system.
• Convenient eReceipts that can be emailed to customers.
• Customers’ use of pre-paid credit cards for on-board purchases.
• Quicker transaction processing times.
• In the near future, the ability to read coupons displayed on a customer’s mobile device.
• More efficient service recovery.

On Aug. 26, flight attendants on Delta Connection flights also will begin using the device.

In the future, Delta expects to provide flight attendants with certain customer-specific information to enable more personalized service.

This solution was developed by Microsoft, Avanade and AT&T after months of development and feedback from flight attendants. The Windows Phone 8 devices will include a Delta-specific customer experience developed by Avanade on the Microsoft Dynamics for Retail mobile point-of sale platform and will operate over Wi-Fi and AT&T’s 4G LTE Network. The agreement includes plans to expand the solution over the next three years to the newest Nokia devices.

Delta also offers its popular Fly Delta app for Windows Phone and today offers in-flight Wi-Fi on more than 800 aircraft.

Delta Air Lines has more than 80,000 employees, serves more than 160 million customers each year and offers service to 327 destinations in 63 countries on six continents.

Read  more at Nokia Conversations here.

Thanks Nishy for the tip.