• Deeper partnership with Lyft will integrate rideshare into seamless travel-day experience for customers.
• Fly Delta to evolve into platform that monitors travel-impacting variables like weather and traffic, then proactively offers curated partner services to keep day of travel moving seamlessly.
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Delta Air Lines is transforming its popular Fly Delta app into a digital concierge that anticipates customer needs, offers convenient services like a ride to the airport and delivers thoughtful notifications, keeping customers moving seamlessly on their journey.

“Customers tell us they want Fly Delta to become their ‘home base’ for managing their travel day,” said Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines. “That’s why we’re evolving the app to become the ultimate travel companion for all points of your journey – with an eye on expanding the convenience and value of using miles as a form of payment for services with Delta and partners, throughout.”

During the CES 2020 opening keynote, Bastian shared the airline’s plans to take a big first step in building its digital concierge by deepening its industry-leading partnership with Lyft. Offering customers multiple points within the Fly Delta app to link Delta SkyMiles and Lyft accounts will make it easier for customers to earn miles during Lyft rides. Other features being explored include providing estimated arrival times powered by Lyft, testing a dedicated premium Delta-Lyft experience at some of the busiest U.S. airports, and offering the option to pay for rides using miles.

The next step comes later this month, when virtual queuing launches in Fly Delta to notify customers when their seat – not just their flight – is boarding. This adds to recent upgrades like integrating TSA wait times in select markets, offering pre-select meals and international auto-check-in – all designed to make travel more personal.

“Instead of checking one app for traffic, another for airport parking and a third for TSA wait times, Delta is building the capability to simplify travel by helping you manage everything from ridesharing and in-flight entertainment to bag delivery and hotels,” Bastian said. “We’re excited to start exploring these possibilities with an innovative leader like Lyft, with whom we share a passion for making the customer travel experience even more rewarding.”

“Lyft and Delta share a commitment to bring hospitality and innovation to our communities,” said John Zimmer, Co-Founder of Lyft. “That is why today we’re excited to expand our partnership and progress toward our goal of transforming the industry with the world’s best transportation.”

Delta and Lyft’s commitment to finding new ways to boost the customer experience together is backed by Delta’s independent research showing that ridesharing helps reduce stress on travel days and makes for a more enjoyable experience. It also highlights the value each brand places on being central to the multi-modal future of transportation.

Delta’s Fly Delta Digital Concierge Vision

Ridesharing and virtual queuing are just the start of Delta’s vision to create a digital concierge providing choices and solving problems at airports, hotels, in transit and across the day of travel.

“When customers interact with our world-class employees, their satisfaction skyrockets,” Bastian said. “But what about all those times when one of our famous customer service Red Coats isn’t right around the corner? We see Fly Delta as a way to complement their expertise and extend their warmth and problem-solving savvy beyond traditional Delta touchpoints to make travel a part of the journey you can look forward to.”

Delta is focused on providing flexible choices, ensuring that customers can decide whether to engage partners at any given point in their journey depending on their personal needs.

The airline is also working to integrate other innovative tools that it’s bringing to life. The evolving Fly Delta experience will feature faster proactive notifications from Delta’s Operations & Customer Center that are powered by its new AI-driven machine learning platform, and the possibilities are endless for integrating with groundbreaking PARALLEL REALITY^TM airport signage. Access to in-flight entertainment across the day of travel that you can continue on the plane is also part of Delta’s vision that Bastian referenced for delivering a more seamless, integrated travel experience that makes travel a part of the journey to look forward to – not just endure.

About Delta and Lyft: Earn even more miles at CES 2020

Delta and Lyft teamed up for their industry-first partnership in 2017 and have since boosted customer loyalty with SkyMiles Members earning more than 1.5 billion miles nationwide. The partnership has been so well-received that Delta and Lyft are expanding their reach and building on shared values to make the customer experience even more powerful and rewarding. During CES 2020, Delta and Lyft are offering double miles for all Las Vegas airport rides, as well as double miles for all rides to and from the event.

At CES and want to experience Fly Delta as the ultimate travel companion that anticipates your needs across the journey? Stop by Delta’s booth (#14035) in Central Hall.

About Delta

Delta is the U.S. global airline leader in products, services, innovation, reliability and customer experience. Powered by its 80,000 people around the world, the airline serves nearly 200 million people every year on more than 5,000 daily departures across its industry-leading global network to more than 300 destinations in over 50 countries. Over the past several years, Delta has led the airline industry in transforming the customer experience by introducing the first end-to-end biometric terminal in the US at Atlanta‘s international airport, real-time RFID bag tracking and automatic check-in via the Fly Delta mobile app, an alliance that will empower customers with seamless in-cabin connectivity experience, more efficient and high-tech automated screening lanes, and a groundbreaking app that helps Delta pilots avoid turbulence for a more comfortable flight. The global airline is also empowering its employees – Delta’s greatest competitive advantage – by arming them with handheld platforms that allow for more personalized service delivery and more meaningful interactions – not just transactions – with customers. All of this has resulted in Delta being named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies Worldwide two consecutive years, and Fortune’s Most Admired Airline for eight of the past nine years.