If Delta's free wi-fi revolutionizes SkyMiles program.
U.S. airline Delta Air Lines continues its renewal strategy, marking small breakthroughs in the U.S. legacy industry. [...]
Delta
SkyTeam
The U.S. airline Delta Air Lines continues its renewal strategy, marking small breakthroughs in the legacy U.S. sector.
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Free wi-fi on board
This is the method Ed Bastian, Delta's ceo, who claims his choices as cutting-edge: this is the case with the double thread linking onboard wi-fi and the SkyMiles loyalty program. The novelty of the former, in fact, will radically change how the latter works.
A as of February 1, 2023, in fact, Delta is offering all passengers, in partnership with T-Mobile, the fast and free wi-fi connection on board Of all its domestic flights.
The move that helps SkyMiles
A service that will be Also extended to the entire international and intercontinental network by the end of 2024. But behind this choice is a desire to broaden and rejuvenate the membership base of the SkyMiles loyalty program.
In fact, in order to access the free wi-fi, it is necessary to sign up for the U.S. airline's loyalty program.
Ed Bastian's business choices
According to reports AirlineWeekly Ed Bastian, speaking at a JP Morgan investor conference, said, "Delta is (also) in the experience business, we live in a hyper-connected world, and the only place you are not connected is right in the air. Some people don't like to be--they don't want to be found by their boss, or bothered by their spouse or others--and we've ruined it for them. But in general, people, and especially young people, want to be connected on board as well".
Delta carries something like 200 million passengers per year and the feeling, according to Bastian, is that too little is still being done to improve their onboard experience.
"We sit them (passengers) down and secure them with belts, they are always in front of us for several hours, they can't move much more and they are bored to death: this has always been for me the real gold mine (to sell)", recalls the ceo with his trademark candor.
For this reason, over the past three years Delta has invested $1 billion to upgrade and enhance its wi-fi service on aircraft.
Paramount Plus in the Efe system
And starting in April 2023, it is planned to The upgrade of the entertainment system On board with new content.
Among them are already confirmed l'entire Paramount Plus database. (the streaming platform) the New York Times' famous crossword puzzles and online games, and the Atlas Obscura travel magazine The wi-fi operation, in any case, is already showing results. Delta has about 25 million subscribers to the SkyMiles program, members "that we still know very little about," Bastian said.
Hunting for young people
Since last November - when Delta began implementing free wi-fi on board - the program gained at least 300,000 new members.
"Their average age is 32, six years younger of the overall average of all Skymiles members. We know that we are building a loyalty system that will last for generations," the manager concluded.
It is to be expected in the coming months, then, that there will be a total revamp of both the in-flight entertainment system; but most importantly a revamped SkyMiles program that will look more at the younger generation on all fronts: accumulation side, mileage redemption side, and shopping experience side.
