Over the previous couple of years, Delta Air Traces’ presence has turn into a staple of CES, with the airline recurrently internet hosting splashy keynotes. This yr, the corporate has rented out the Sphere to announce its newest slate of updates. These embrace (are you able to guess it?) an AI-powered assistant in its app, in addition to an up to date in-flight leisure system with 4K HDR shows and Bluetooth connectivity. Members of Delta’s SkyMiles frequent flier program may also quickly get free entry to YouTube Premium and YouTube Music on board the corporate’s planes. Delta introduced these updates at CES 2025.
The brand new AI assistant, which Delta calls the Delta Concierge, will roll out over the course of the yr. Customers will have the ability to work together with it utilizing voice or textual content. On this age of huge language fashions, that’s not precisely groundbreaking, in fact. The thought right here is to supply proactive recommendation and steering for fliers, beginning with notifications about upcoming passport expirations and visa necessities. Wanting forward, the service may also supply destination-specific notifications about native climate, for instance.
The Concierge may also supply steering to bag drops, Delta’s Sky Golf equipment, and departure gates.
This all feels helpful but in addition a bit underwhelming, and lots of of those new options really feel extra like tablestakes than large improvements. Certainly, I’m fairly certain no AI is required to verify whether or not a flier’s passport is about to run out or to inform them the place their connecting gate is.
The brand new seatback expertise, which Delta describes as “the primary cloud-based in-flight leisure system,” will start to roll out in 2026. It guarantees a serious improve to current techniques with 4K HDR QLED shows, Bluetooth connectivity, and a 96-terabyte onboard storage system to retailer motion pictures, TV reveals, music, and extra.
Right here, too, it feels a bit like Delta is taking part in catchup. United’s ongoing fleet refresh already presents 4K shows and Bluetooth connectivity, for instance. That system is probably not cloud-connected, however I’m undecided that issues to fliers, particularly as soon as the complete United fleet turns into Starlink-enabled. Up to now, that gained’t embrace free YouTube Premium and Music, which Delta plans to supply.
And since a CES keynote wouldn’t be a CES keynote with out asserting just a few concepts that aren’t more likely to ever come to market, Delta additionally on Tuesday introduced that it plans to work with Airbus within the subsequent flight check part of the fello’fly mission. The thought right here is to have planes fly in formation — just like flocks of geese — to avoid wasting vitality. This mission has been ongoing for just a few years now. It’s a nifty idea, however it would take so many regulatory modifications to place into actuality that it’s unlikely for use anytime quickly.
