Delta Air Lines drops Microsoft mobile devices, picks up iPads and iPhone

Delta Air Lines is joining the ranks of other top US airlines like American and United in using iPads and iPhones for pilots and in-flight service personnel. The company currently uses Microsoft Surface tablets and Lumia 1520 smartphones, but will switch to Apple 10.5-inch iPad Pros and the iPhone 7 Plus in early 2018.

The iPad Pros will replace the Surface tablets that have been used as electronic flight bags since 2014, while the iPhone 7 Plus will replace the Nokia Lumia 1520 phablets that flight attendants have used since 2014 as in-flight point of sale and onboard customer service devices.

Apple’s mobile computing effort with IBM is definitely paying dividends, particularly in the airline industry. One good point about having iPads and iPhones on all of the aircraft in the Delta, United and American fleets is that it places those Apple devices in the direct view of millions of passengers every year. 

The word came not from Delta, but from Apple podcaster Ken Ray. Ray received emails from two separate people yesterday — with one being a full press release — but couldn’t find verification of the announcement. The Mac Observer says it was able to verify what Ray heard.