Delta Air Lines recently announced plans to overhaul its mobile app, Fly Delta, and shared details about its expanding partnership with Lyft to potentially let customers pay for rides using travel miles.
The airline’s goal is to transform its app into a digital concierge that appeals to mobile-savvy consumers. The improved app will offer customers curated partner services, such as the linking of Delta SkyMiles and Lyft accounts helping customers earn miles during Lyft rides.
The app will proactively notify users of any travel-impacts such as weather and traffic and is powered by Delta’s new artificial intelligence-driven machine learning platform. Travelers will also be alerted when their seat is boarding when virtual queuing comes to the app later this month. Updates to the mobile app follow Delta’s recent moves to integrate Transportation Security Administration (TSA) wait times in select airports and offer international automatic check-in and pre-select meals.
“Customers tell us they want Fly Delta to become their ‘home base’ for managing their travel day. That’s why we’re evolving the app to become the ultimate travel companion for all points of your journey–with an eye on expanding the convenience and value of using miles as a form of payment for services with Delta and partners, throughout,” said Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines.
Integrating ride shares into the Delta travel experience follows findings from an independent study Delta conducted that shows ride-sharing helps make travel days more enjoyable. Delta and Lyft first teamed up in 2017, a partnership that has since earned SkyMiles members more than 1.5 billion miles nationwide.
