Delta Air Lines Adds Virtual Queuing to App

Delta Air Lines announced it would be adding virtual queuing on its Fly Delta app this week.

Compared to a pager issued by a restaurant as you wait for your table, Delta said the virtual queuing would allow travelers to relax at nearby establishments instead of staying at the crowded gate while waiting to board.

Delta will continue using the same boarding order and associated colors, but travelers will now be able to tell when their seat is boarding, eliminating another stress point from the experience.

“We continue to put boarding under the microscope – looking at how technology can help alleviate some of the crowding at the gate that all of us have experienced,” Delta Vice President Rhonda Crawford said in a statement. “Customers have told us that being notified when their seat is boarding will help reduce the stress of that experience.”

The virtual queuing is just the latest step in the Fly Delta app’s transformation into a digital concierge, which already includes integrating real-time TSA wait times in specific cities, offering pre-select meals and launching international automatic check-in.

At the 2020 CES conference, Delta CEO Ed Bastian said the airline would look to make the Fly Delta app the centerpiece of the travel experience for passengers, digitally taking them through each point of their journey.

The app upgrade announcement came a day after news broke that Delta was reportedly reducing or dropping ticket change fees, with the hope an increase in business would offset the loss of the ancillary income.