Imagine a world where you board a transcontinental flight and burn the hours in the air honing your basic strategy blackjack skills, or pull endlessly on the virtual arm of an electronic slot machine. That scenario is about to come to life in the skies above the United States thanks to a new agreement between DraftKings and Delta Airlines.
Under the terms of the Delta/DraftKings partnership, the operator will be providing free, in-flight gaming as part of the airline’s on-board entertainment system. Delta’s on-board gaming system will involve real money play and the company has made it clear that passengers will not be able to wager Delta frequent flier miles either.
Though the plan for building an on-board social casino was teased by Delta CEO Ed Bastian at this year’s CES Show in Las Vegas, this is the first time any details of the plan have been made available to the public. The only real catch that’s emerged since the Las Vegas announcement is that the games will only be available to Delta SkyMiles Members via Delta Sync Wi-Fi.
Delta VP of In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity Julieta McCurry described the new gaming system in a recent announcement saying, “Delta is constantly listening to our customers and evolving to meet their needs. We know they want an in-flight experience similar to what they have at home, including more ways to engage and stay entertained – which is why we’re excited to continue scaling Delta Sync products.”
While Delta’s in-flight gaming system doesn’t involve real money play today, efforts are afoot by some state gaming regulators,including Connecticut, to bring real money gaming to flights originating from their states.