Delta Airlines To Use 19,000 Nokia Lumia Windows Phones For In-Flight Payments

Delta Airlines is to give more than 19,000 of its flight attendants Windows Phone 8-powered Nokia devices to make it easier to process in-flight transactions and receive information.

Attendants will be able to process transactions such as seat upgrades much quicker and issue e-receipts that can be emailed to customers.

Eventually, they will be able to read coupons on a customer’s mobile device (assuming flight-mode was enabled before take-off) and offer customer-specific information, thanks to the pre-loaded Microsoft Office and Outlook applications.

Windows Phone payments

“Delta’s 19,000 in-flight professionals are there for the safety and comfort of our customers, and equipping them with innovative solutions means they can better meet our customers’ needs on board every flight,” says Joanne Smith, senior vice president – In-Flight Service. “This is yet another way we’re investing in technology to improve the customer experience.”

The system has been developed by Microsoft, Avanade and AT&T over the last few months and runs on Microsoft Dynamics for Retail mobile point-of sale platform. It can be used on Wi-Fi networks and on AT&T’s 4G network.

Initially, the Nokia Lumia 820 will be given to attendants, but the agreement means that the latest Nokia smartphones will be rolled out over the next three years.

“This is a great example of how Nokia, Microsoft and our other partners are enabling many of the world’s leading companies to build innovative mobile solutions for their businesses,” adds Chris Weber, global head of sales & marketing at Nokia.

The most recent Windows Phone 8 handset to be launched by Nokia is the Nokia Lumia 1020, which boasts a 41-megapixel camera and is expected to be released later this year.

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