April 28 - With summer ahead and more customers taking steps to return to the skies, Delta has continued to find new ways to welcome customers back with less guesswork. Last month, the airline launched its new Travel Planning Center – a one-stop guide packed with resources to manage travel requirements – and added more interactive features to its easy-to-use Delta Discover Map that give customers the ability to filter, search and book travel in a couple of clicks. Over the coming months, the airline plans to bring an even further streamlined experience to customers with new tools aimed at reopening international travel.

 

Matt Muta, V.P. – Innovation, explains how Delta is using technology to help the industry return to a pre-COVID travel experience, while keeping an eye to the future.

 

Where do things stand today for customers looking to return to international travel?

Delta has been saying for a while that international recovery would be choppy, but there are encouraging signs customers can be excited about. A few destinations are reopening for U.S. customers, including Iceland and Greece, but many long-haul international destinations remain closed to U.S. passengers for all but essential travel, with strict restrictions for entry.

 

Even so, Delta’s teams have been working hard over the past several months to make it easier for customers returning to travel through their new Travel Planning Center, Delta Discover Map and more. And while it is clear we still have a long road ahead before we see international travel return to pre-COVID levels, Delta is moving in the right direction.

 

Everyone’s talking about the idea of a digital health ‘passport.’ Is this something Delta is looking into developing?

‘Health passport’ sounds exciting, but it’s really a misnomer. A passport is an official document issued by a government, certifying the holder's identity and citizenship that entitles them to travel abroad. Delta will leave it to governments to decide on entry requirements and what’s accepted to cross borders.

 

Where Delta can be innovative, though, is in making it as easy as possible for their customers to navigate and address those requirements. That’s what they’ve been working hard to do since the onset of the pandemic. Delta wants to develop an integrated suite of digital tools available via Delta channels that takes the guesswork out of the customer journey.

 

Earlier this year, Delta introduced a test upload capability in partnership with TrustAssure in a handful of airports that has helped bridge the gap between paper documentation and digital credentials, but they are hoping to go a step further.

 

Delta’s goal is to bring one solution to customers that helps them schedule a test, manage their results and other health documents, and automatically verify they have met the requirements for entry at their destination in a seamless, secure way – and Delta is making progress.

 

What will that experience look like for customers?

Delta has recently launched a limited test of a new solution that will let customers schedule a COVID-19 test within TrustAssure’s network of test providers, verify their results and automatically confirm the necessary requirements, which are provided by IATA, have been met prior to check-in. All of this is built into a familiar pre-travel process on delta.com and makes the process of managing health documents a lot easier for customers.

 

How are you working with Delta's global partner airlines to ensure that the customers have a seamless travel experience when they connect and travel on Delta's partner airlines?

Delta has been working closely with SkyTeam, the global airline alliance, and each of Delta's global airline partners throughout the pandemic, sharing best practice on the health and safety measures in place throughout the journey and focusing on how Delta can create a stress-free travel experience as customers navigate new and future requirements needed for international travel.

 

Ensuring that Delta’s customers have the digital resources they need is critical. That begins at the initial booking. They need to understand the tests required for travel and, ultimately, the documents they’ll need before they go. It is imperative that Delta deliver the technology solutions, such as touchless check-in, that ensure a seamless experience for Delta’s customer’s benefit across the partners. Customers want a smooth, connected and stress-free travel experience.

 

How is customer health data being handled? Isn’t privacy a concern?

Maintaining the privacy of Delta's customers’ information, both personal and health-related, is critical to their work. The beauty of the system Delta is creating is that all customer health data is verified independently – Delta is not actively interpreting a customer’s health data and none of it is stored on Delta’s servers. Once the customer’s test verification status is confirmed by TrustAssure, they can feel confident they have met the health requirements for entry at their destination.

 

Will Delta’s solution account for vaccination records?

The solution Delta is building is designed to evolve as requirements change. In the future, customers will be able to verify their vaccination status automatically like they can with COVID-19 test results, but there is still work to be done at the government level to determine the policies related to travel for vaccinated people and what governments will accept or support as proof of vaccination.

 

For many customers, a vaccination requirement will not be new. Many destinations in Africa and South America require additional health documentation and vaccination records for entry. The difference between those requirements and the current environment is scale. COVID-19 has touched virtually every part of the world, and everyone is adapting to that impact.

 

Is Delta actively working with governments on this issue?

Delta is doing everything they can to help policymakers align on accepted health standards, so they can then develop the solutions that will support those new requirements and facilitate Delta's customers’ travel. But there’s a lot Delta is able to do even while they wait for those decisions to be made.

 

Delta’s goal is to build a system that can adapt to both government requirements and customer needs both today and down the road.

 

When will Delta’s solution be widely available?

At Delta, they follow a think big, start small and learn fast approach to innovation – and that has guided their development in this space. Delta recently began testing an initial version of their solution for eligible customers traveling between Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and London Heathrow, and initial feedback has been promising.

 

Delta is fine-tuning the functionality based on the great feedback they have received so far and looking at how to bring it to more customers in the coming weeks.

 

 

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