Thales and Delta partner on next-generation Delta Sync powered by FlytEDGE
Thales' FlytEDGE solution on Delta
Delta Air Lines has unveiled its next-generation Delta Sync seatback experience powered by Thales’ FlytEDGE solution. FlytEDGE is the first cloud-native IFE system that elevates the passenger experience to new heights. The announcement was made at CES 2025 in Las Vegas this week.
The system features:
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Cinematic 4K QLED HDR seatback displays to immerse passengers with more than one billion vibrant colours
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Bluetooth® capabilities so travellers can pair their wireless devices
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Thales’ Onboard Data Center (ODC) with 96TB of storage to enable edge caching, for instant streaming experiences
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An intelligent recommendation engine that tailors content to passenger preferences
The passenger experience
FlytEDGE will enable Delta to deliver unique features that make the travel journey more enjoyable and accessible for all travellers, the January 8 press release said. This includes digital functionalities such as the Onboard Experience Planner and seatback features like “Do Not Disturb” mode to give travellers more control over their journey. Future enhancements are set to include features like guided wellness, further customization options of the food and beverage experience and more.
Niels Steenstrup, CEO of Thales InFlyt Experience, highlights the shared commitment to innovation between Thales and Delta.
"It's about seamless travel. It's about understanding how travellers spend their time onboard and providing the technology to support that," he tells PAX Tech. "It's about the experience."
Other features FlytEDGE brings to Delta include Seatback Announcement Translation, which enables passengers to understand crucial flight information, no matter their first language, and makes the travel experience more accessible to travellers with hearing disabilities. It provides flight attendants with the ability to send messages to seatback displays in the passenger’s preferred language.
The Arrival Mode feature integrates essential day-of travel information from the Fly Delta app directly into the seatback environment to give passengers the information they need for their travel journey across all devices.
Personalization through digital features
FlytEDGE facilitates data-driven decisions to constantly adapt the passenger interface with new features and curated entertainment at every seat. Delta can deploy the latest updates over the air at the click of a button to one aircraft or the entire fleet to deliver the newest and most popular content curated by the Delta Studio Team.
FlytEDGE goes beyond the hardware, with real-time system and automated maintenance tasks. Leveraging a connected cloud-architecture, the system is built to enable quick integration of Delta’s digital partners - allowing the airline to bring-in services for a personalized touch. Features include:
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Virtual Aircraft Support: The ability to deploy system and experience updates to a virtual aircraft providing a groundbreaking approach to validate and approve user interface (UI), content and services updates. Following deployment and validation to the virtual aircraft, updates can be deployed to partial or full fleet instantly and as desired.
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Real-Time Analytics: Enables the curation of experiences and content in real-time based on usage analytics.
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Resilience: Redundant storage, data flows and computing capabilities.
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Future-proof: A continuously evolving set of services that can be selected and deployed by the airline at their convenience.
“At Thales, we believe that the future of inflight entertainment is without limits. We are delighted to be at the forefront of innovation alongside Delta to introduce groundbreaking new experiences. Through our collaborative partnership, we are bringing the industry’s first cloud-native IFE system onboard as part of the Delta Sync experience. FlytEDGE’s advanced capabilities offer the airline endless opportunities to create memorable and engaging passenger journeys, fully integrated into their CRM and ground-based services” said Yannick Assouad, Executive Vice President Avionics, Thales.
Ranjan Goswami, Delta S.V.P., Customer Experience Design said, “As technology evolves, our customers expect their travel experience to adapt and evolve with them. They want it to be intuitive, contextual and seamless in a way that supports and guides them so that they can move through life with confidence. To stay ahead of those expectations, Delta is committed to continuously evolving our industry-leading digital experiences across channels to ensure the sky is never the limit – it’s only the beginning.”
