At a special event at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025 in Las Vegas this week, Delta Air Lines unveiled its next-generation Delta Sync seatback IFE experience. Delta Sync is powered by the Thales FlytEDGE system, which is the first cloud-native IFE system on the market. The FlytEDGE system won the IFEC & Digital Services category of the 2024 Crystal Cabin Awards.
Highlights of the system include cinematic 4K QLED HDR seatback IFE displays with over one billion colours, Bluetooth capabilities so travellers can pair wireless devices, an intelligent recommendation engine that tailors IFE content to each passenger’s preferences, and Thales’ Onboard Data Center (ODC) with 96TB of storage, which enables edge-caching so passengers can access immense volumes of content and instant streaming.
Delta has specified a few special features for the system, including an Onboard Experience Planner with functions such as a ‘do not disturb’ mode if privacy is desired, with future enhancements expected to include features such as guided wellness programmes, and expanded options for customising food and beverage orders.
A seatback announcement translation function enables customers to understand crucial flight information, no matter their first language, and also makes the travel experience more accessible to customers with hearing disabilities. The function also enables flight attendants to send messages to seatback displays in each passenger’s preferred language.
The Arrival Mode integrates day-of travel information from the Fly Delta app directly into the seatback environment, giving SkyMiles Members useful information, across devices, such as updates on connecting flights or ways to arrange ground transportation at their final destination.
FlytEDGE also facilitates data-driven decisions for Delta so it can constantly adapt the passenger interface with new features and curated entertainment at every seat. Delta can deploy the latest system updates over the air at the click of a button, whether to one aircraft or across the entire fleet, and deliver the newest content.
FlytEDGE also provides performance 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, which allows the airline to seamlessly bring in new services quickly and efficiently.
Features include Virtual Aircraft Support, which can deploy system and experience updates to a virtual aircraft, so the airline can validate and approve user interface (UI), content and services updates anywhere and anytime. Following deployment and validation to the virtual aircraft, updates can be deployed instantly to a plane or the full fleet.
Real-time analytics enable the curation of experiences and content in real-time based on usage analytics, while the redundant storage, data flows and computing capabilities ensure system reliability. Thales will continuously evolve its set of FlytEDGE services, which can be selected and deployed by the airline as desired.
“Through our collaborative partnership, we are bringing the industry’s first Cloud-native IFE system onboard as part of the Delta Sync experience,” said Yannick Assouad, executive vice-president for avionics at Thales. “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.”
Ranjan Goswami, Delta ‘s SVP. For customer experience design added, “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.”
