Delta Air Lines has announced that its more than 19,000 flight attendants are to begin using the Nokia Lumia 820 for on-board payments and to improve the experience for their customers.

The Nokia Lumia 820 is a stylish and high-performance device, already renowned for its versatility. The Nokia Lumia range, powered by Windows Phone 8, offers business users a true Microsoft Outlook and Office experience as well as business class security and navigation. All this, combined with its sleek and compact design, means the Nokia Lumia 820 is just the ticket for its new sky-high duties with Delta.

The point of sale solution for Delta’s flight attendants was jointly developed by Microsoft, Avanade and AT&T, following extensive consultation with Delta’s flight attendants, and in-flight trials have shown that the new Nokia Lumia based solution is already around 10% faster than their previous systems.

Using the Nokia Lumia devices, running an Avanade point of sale (POS) experience on the Microsoft Dynamics for Retail mobile point-of-sale platform, flight attendants will be able to handle near real-time credit card processing for on-board purchases including seating upgrades, with the ability to conveniently email eReceipts to the customers.

Passengers will also be able to use pre-paid credit cards for on-board purchases. And because the Nokia Lumia comes with Microsoft Office and Outlook email, flight attendants can remain connected and productive during the flight.

As the service develops, Delta will add the ability to read coupons displayed on a customer’s mobile device, as well as providing attendants with relevant, customer-specific information through their Nokia Lumia devices to enable them to offer more personalized services to passengers. Delta already offers its popular Fly Delta app for Nokia Lumia and other Windows Phone users

Chris Weber, global head of sales & marketing at Nokia, said: “We’re excited that Delta Air Lines has chosen Nokia Lumia to provide new services that will benefit their customers. This is a great example of how Nokia, Microsoft and our other partners are enabling many of the world’s leading companies to build innovative mobile solutions for their businesses. I look forward to seeing the Nokia Lumia in action on my next flight with Delta Air Lines.”

image credit: Delta Air Lines