Customers Flying on Delta Receive More Free Entertainment than any Other Carrier

Delta introduces 'Delta Studio' and free entertainment from every seat on more than 1,000 aircraft worldwide beginning Aug. 1

Entertainment offered through seat-back systems and in-flight streaming directly to customers' own smartphones, tablets and laptops

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Delta Air Lines

Jul 28, 2014, 09:00 ET

ATLANTA, July 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) today announced it will begin offering free entertainment options on all of its domestic aircraft and two-cabin regional jets beginning on Aug. 1.

The move is the most far-reaching effort by an airline to provide hit movies, popular television shows, music and video games for free. With the introduction of Delta Studio and the airline's investments to update the interiors of its aircraft, Delta is setting the standard for customers when it comes to free entertainment across more than 1,000 aircraft.

Delta On-Board In-Flight Entertainment. (PRNewsFoto/Delta Air Lines)

All Delta customers, in every class of service on flights longer than one and a half hours, will have access to a selection of free entertainment options, either at their seat or through their laptops, mobile and tablet devices. Free entertainment options are available on flights with seat-back entertainment systems or on demand video streaming onboard Delta's Wi-Fi-equipped aircraft.

"Through the introduction of Delta Studio our customers have yet another reason to choose Delta and a different travel experience," said Tim Mapes, senior vice president – Marketing. "Delta continues to be driven by customer feedback which has consistently placed the desire to be entertained at the top of the list of ways to improve our customers' time in the air."

Delta customers seated in BusinessElite, First Class and Economy Comfort will have free, unrestricted access to in-flight entertainment on all international flights worldwide. Customers traveling in economy on all international flights will also have access to free content. Delta completed installation of seat-back entertainment systems on its international fleet in 2013.

Customers traveling on domestic flights in BusinessElite, First Class and Economy Comfort will have free access to all in-flight entertainment. Domestic economy customers will have access to free content which includes all of Delta's live satellite TV channels, music selections and game options through seat-back entertainment systems as well as movie or TV selections such as 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' or 'Frozen' on seat-back systems in August as well as streaming content through in-flight Wi-Fi.

Additional premium content will be available for purchase in economy including the latest movie titles such as 'Need for Speed' or 'Rio 2,' HBO and SHOWTIME programming as well as on-demand TV shows like 'About a Boy' or 'The Middle.' Delta's full entertainment line-up for the month of August is available in Sky magazine.

Seat-back In-flight Entertainment
Delta offers 18 channels of live satellite TV on select aircraft and up to 250 movies, hundreds of TV shows, 2,300 songs and a selection of games on aircraft with seat-back entertainment systems. Delta is the only U.S. carrier to offer personal, on-demand entertainment at every seat on all long-haul international flights.

Delta has 140 domestic aircraft with seat-back entertainment systems installed and recently announced that it will be updating more of its domestic narrowbody aircraft through 2016. These fleet interior modifications will add seat-back entertainment to 56 Boeing 757-200, 43 Boeing 737-800s and 57 Airbus A319 aircraft. Additionally, more than 100 new Airbus and Boeing aircraft are already scheduled to be delivered with seat-back entertainment through 2018.

In-flight streaming through onboard Wi-Fi
Customers traveling on any domestic Delta or Delta Connection two-cabin aircraft equipped with Wi-Fi will be able to stream free movies and TV options directly to their mobile devices while in flight by using Gogo's video player app. The Fly Delta app will include an integrated player for iOS devices. Customers who have downloaded the app before their flight can easily access streamed content from Delta aircraft for playback while in-flight.

With more than 900 domestic and international aircraft equipped with in-flight Wi-Fi, Delta operates the world's largest fleet of internet connected aircraft available to more than 400,000 customers on more than 4,000 flights daily. Delta's in-flight connectivity continues to expand with the installation of the service on its international fleet. All Boeing 777, 767, 747, Airbus A330 and transoceanic Boeing 757 aircraft are scheduled for completion by the end of 2015, bringing the total number of Wi-Fi connected aircraft in Delta's fleet to more than 1,000.

Artist Spotlight and Billboard Partnership
In June, Delta also launched its new music discovery platform for popular and emerging artists called Delta Artist Spotlight. The monthly program kicked off with newcomer Sam Smith and his debut album, 'In The Lonely Hour' by introducing his music to millions of passengers through overhead music during boarding and deplaning as well as offering custom content selections for aircraft equipped with seat-back entertainment systems. July featured Scottish electronic band Chvrches and Canadian-born songstress Kiezsa will be highlighted in the month of August.

Delta launched an industry-first partnership with Billboard in July to provide new ergonomically designed earbuds on flights more than 250 miles that feature seat-back and overhead entertainment. As one of the world's most influential music brands, Billboard brings a new level of expertise to the redesigned earbuds resulting in better sound quality and improved comfort. The earbuds are complimentary for all customers traveling on all international flights as well as flights between New York and Los Angeles, San Francisco or Seattle. Customers seated in domestic economy or Economy Comfort can purchase the earbuds for $2.

Images of Delta's in-flight entertainment systems are available at news.delta.com:

Delta has invested billions of dollars in the customer experience, including updating interiors with more baggage space and access to power on 225 of its domestic narrowbody aircraft and building a new Terminal 4 at New York-JFK and the Maynard H. Jackson Jr. International Terminal in Atlanta. Delta has also spent more than $100 million to expand, renovate and consolidate terminals C and D at New York-LaGuardia Airport and opened a Sky Deck at Delta Sky Clubs in New York-JFK and Atlanta in 2013. Additionally, customers have seen Delta's investment in its more than 45 Delta Sky Clubs throughout the system, power recharging stations at dozens of airports, and continued updates to the Fly Delta app including features such as integrated baggage tracking and mobile check-in. Customers can see a complete overview of Delta's ongoing updates to its products with the Delta Fleet Sheet on Facebook.

Delta Air Lines serves nearly 165 million customers each year. This year, Delta was named the 2014 Airline of the Year by Air Transport World magazine and was named to FORTUNE magazine's 50 Most Admired Companies, in addition to being named the most admired airline for the third time in four years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 333 destinations in 64 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs nearly 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia as well as a newly formed joint venture with Virgin Atlantic. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights, with key hubs and markets including Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, New York-LaGuardia, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Tokyo-Narita. Delta has invested billions of dollars in airport facilities, global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional information is available on delta.com, Twitter @Delta, Google.com/+Delta, Facebook.com/delta and Delta's blog takingoff.delta.com.