At the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Delta was once again in the spotlight, announcing a series of compelling technological updates. The event was held at the iconic Sphere venue and showed Delta’s latest breakthrough in aviation technology, including an AI assistant called “Delta Concierge” and a brand new in-flight entertainment system. These innovations not only enhance passengers' travel experience, but also mark further exploration of the aviation industry in the direction of intelligence.
The "Delta Concierge" AI assistant is one of the blockbuster products released by Delta Air Lines this time and is expected to be launched gradually within the next year. Supporting voice and text interactions, this assistant is designed to provide passengers with personalized travel advice and guidance. The initial functions include passport expiration reminders and visa requirements notifications. In the future, it will also be expanded to provide destination weather information, luggage delivery guidelines, Sky Club VIP room location, and boarding gate navigation. Although these functions seem basic, they can bring passengers a more convenient and efficient travel experience through the support of AI technology.
However, there are also opinions that these functions are not innovative in the aviation industry, and are more like an upgraded version of the industry's standard configuration. For example, services such as passport expiration reminders and boarding gate navigation can also be completed with traditional manual services. It remains to be seen whether AI's intervention has truly improved efficiency. However, Delta clearly wants to provide passengers with more proactive and personalized services through AI assistants, thus leading to a standout in the highly competitive aviation market.
In addition to AI assistants, Delta has also announced a new in-flight entertainment system, which is scheduled to be officially launched in 2026. The system, described as "the first cloud-based in-flight entertainment system", will significantly enhance the entertainment experience for passengers. The new system is equipped with a 4K HDR QLED display, supports Bluetooth connectivity, and has up to 96TB of on-board storage capacity, which can store massive movies, TV series and music content. This upgrade will undoubtedly allow passengers to enjoy a richer and higher-quality entertainment experience during long-distance flights.
Still, Delta's upgrade on the in-flight entertainment system seems to be a little lagging. In contrast, United's fleet has long been equipped with a 4K display and Bluetooth connectivity. Although Delta's new system introduces cloud connectivity technology, the difference may not be obvious in the actual passenger experience. In addition, United Airlines plans to enable the Starlink network on future flights to provide faster internet services, while Delta has chosen to provide YouTube Premium and YouTube Music for free as a complement. This strategic difference may reflect the different emphasis of different airlines in technological innovation.
At the CES press conference, Delta Air Lines also revealed the "group flight" project that it cooperated with Airbus. This project aims to optimize aircraft formation flights by simulating the way geese fly, thereby saving fuel. Although this concept has been proposed for many years, progress in practical applications is still slow due to complex regulatory and technical challenges. Despite this, the "Group Flying" project demonstrates the active exploration of the aviation industry in sustainable development, which may bring new breakthroughs to the industry in the future.
Overall, Delta’s launch at CES 2025 demonstrates its ambitions for technological innovation. Whether it is the "Delta Concierge" AI assistant or the brand new in-flight entertainment system, Delta's efforts to improve the passenger experience. However, in the face of fierce market competition, whether these innovations can truly bring competitive advantages to Delta still needs time to test. At the same time, forward-looking technologies such as the "group flight" project also allow us to see more possibilities for the future development of the aviation industry.