Over the previous few years, Delta Air Lines’ presence has grow to be a staple of CES, with the airline repeatedly internet hosting splashy keynotes. This yr, the corporate has rented out the Sphere to announce its newest slate of updates. These embody (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 can even quickly get free entry to YouTube Premium and YouTube Music on board the corporate’s planes. Delta introduced these updates at CES 2025.
The new AI assistant, which Delta calls the Delta Concierge, will roll out over the course of the yr. Users will be capable to work together with it utilizing voice or textual content. In this age of enormous language fashions, that’s not precisely groundbreaking, in fact. The concept right here is to supply proactive recommendation and steerage for fliers, beginning with notifications about upcoming passport expirations and visa necessities. Looking forward, the service can even supply destination-specific notifications about native climate, for instance.
The Concierge can even supply steerage to bag drops, Delta’s Sky Clubs, and departure gates.
This all feels helpful but additionally a bit underwhelming, and plenty of of those new options really feel extra like tablestakes than large improvements. Indeed, I’m fairly positive no AI is required to test whether or not a flier’s passport is about to run out or to inform them the place their connecting gate is.
The 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 present methods with 4K HDR QLED shows, Bluetooth connectivity, and a 96-terabyte onboard storage system to retailer films, TV reveals, music, and extra.
Here, too, it feels a bit like Delta is enjoying catchup. United’s ongoing fleet refresh already provides 4K shows and Bluetooth connectivity, for instance. That system might not be cloud-connected, however I’m unsure that issues to fliers, particularly as soon as the whole United fleet turns into Starlink-enabled. So far, that received’t embody free YouTube Premium and Music, which Delta plans to supply.
And as a result of a CES keynote wouldn’t be a CES keynote with out saying a number of concepts that aren’t prone to ever come to market, Delta additionally on Tuesday introduced that it plans to work with Airbus within the subsequent flight check section of the fello’fly venture. The concept right here is to have planes fly in formation — just like flocks of geese — to save lots of vitality. This venture has been ongoing for a number of years now. It’s a nifty idea, however it is going to take so many regulatory adjustments to place into actuality that it’s unlikely for use anytime quickly.
