Delta passes out 19K Windows Phones to flight attendants

Not only are Windows Phones full of delightful animations, colors, and features*. Now, they’ll make flying on Delta less of a pain in the keister.

At least, that’s what Delta is hoping. The airline just shipped 19,000 flight attendants their shiny new Windows Phones today. The phones are powered by AT&T.

Specifically, the devices are supposed to be used to make in-flight purchases easier for fliers. That means paying for seating upgrades, food, and beverages will now be a Windows Phone-enabled process. No more waiting on those dinky, slow-as-molasses machines just to be robbed of $6 for your under-boozy Bloody Mary. Hooray!

Flight attendants will start using the new phones on August 26. At that point, fliers will start getting emailed receipts rather than physical ones. Delta also says that the transactions will become a lot faster and that soon, the system will be able to process digital coupons from customers’ mobile devices.

From the press release:

This solution was developed by Microsoft, Avanade and AT&T after months of development and feedback from flight attendants. The Windows Phone 8 devices will include a Delta-specific customer experience developed by Avanade on the Microsoft Dynamics for Retail mobile point-of sale platform and will operate over Wi-Fi and AT&T’s 4G LTE Network. The agreement includes plans to expand the solution over the next three years to the newest Nokia devices.

*Disclosure: The author is a very happy Windows Phone user and has not been compensated by Microsoft to say so.

via VentureBeat http://venturebeat.com/2013/08/22/delta-passes-out-19k-windows-phones-to-flight-attendants/