Delta Air Lines cooperates with YouTube and works on AI concierge service

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In Germany, Delta Air Lines – or Delta for short – hardly makes an appearance, but with more than 5,000 daily flights to more than 290 destinations, the US company is not only one of the largest airlines in the world, but is also the oldest airline still operating in the USA. It celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2025.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian therefore apparently saw his CES keynote primarily as an opportunity to celebrate his company's success story on a grand scale: the Delta boss was the first company ever to hold a keynote in the Sphere, with videos specially produced for the arena and guest appearances by actress Viola Davis, American football legend Tom Brady and Lenny Kravitz as the final musical act. In this setting, the message could only be: “This was just the beginning for Delta, in the future we will redefine flying”.

Delta Concierge

Of course, generative AI is a must today. It will form the basis for a personal virtual assistant called “Delta Concierge”, which will look after passengers at home on the day of travel – by ensuring that they arrive at the airport on time in a natural conversation. The fact that Delta is dreaming big is demonstrated by the way the AI concierge solves the problem of not being able to make it by car by calling an air cab.

For Ed Bastian, however, this is not a distant utopia, but a tangible reality: The airline has entered into a partnership with the start-up Joby, which – is set to offer its services at the Delta hubs in New York (LaGuardia and JFK) this year, subject to all approvals –.

Once at the airport, the virtual assistant uses technologies such as indoor navigation, facial recognition and personalized electronic baggage labels to ensure that passengers reach their plane without having to check in and with as few checks as possible. In Delta's vision, the necessary technologies are not only all integrated at the airport, but are also networked with the Delta Concierge. As the passenger shown is obviously a frequent flyer with award miles and lounge access, the question whether the service is also suitable for occasional flyers does not arise.

Pleasant journey

During the flight, the passenger plans what they would like to do at their destination with the help of the concierge. The entertainment program of the future will not only offer a tailor-made program, but also an automatic translation service, so that in future all content will be available in any desired language.

Until then, Delta passengers can look forward to an exclusive partnership with YouTube announced at the keynote, which allows YouTube content to be accessed via the in-flight entertainment system away from traditional media – without advertising. In addition, Delta regular customers will be able to access part of the YouTube Premium and YouTube Music library free of charge beyond the flight.

Independently of Concierge, Delta also wants to launch a program in 2025 that is designed to alleviate jet lag for passengers when flying across multiple time zones. Among other things, special cabin lighting will be used to optimize the rhythm of waking and sleeping phases.

Arrival

During the flight, the Delta Concierge keeps a constant eye on the arrival time, helps with navigation through the destination airport after disembarking and has even pre-ordered an Uber to wait for the passenger in front of the airport building at exactly the right time.

When Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi took to the stage, it almost seemed as if Delta was already making this part a reality. In fact, the new partnership with Uber, which is also exclusive, simply means that Uber and Uber Eats rides can now also earn award miles. Already today, over 15 percent of all Uber rides start or end at the airport.

In the end, Ed Bastian did not present any revolutionary approaches, but several ideas that would actually make air travel more pleasant. Long-suffering frequent flyers would perhaps be more interested in how the Delta Concierge would help them if they missed connecting flights or their luggage was left behind en route. But perhaps this will simply no longer happen in the future. In any case, the Delta CEO knew how to pack his message into a successful show, which met with an extremely positive response from the employees and loyal customers present.

Heise Medien is the official media partner of CES 2025.

(nij)