14 DAY TRIAL // A few days ago, it emerged that Delta Air Lines abandoned Microsoft products once and for all, replacing the Windows phones and the Surface tablets used by staff with Apple’s own iPhone and iPad models.
And while at first glance this seemed like a critical loss for Microsoft that took place because of the lack of a powerful mobile platform, the software giant says it all happened because its own Surface doesn’t fit Delta’s electronic flight bags.
As it turns out, Delta has switched to a standard flight bag for its staff, and according to the official dimensions, only a tablet that features a screen of 10.5 inches or smaller can fit.
This means the Surface, whose smallest version is the Surface Pro coming with a 12.3-inch display, cannot be carried around in this flight bag, so Delta had no other option than to give up on its completely.
Delta still loves Microsoft products
Microsoft suggests that Delta was perfectly fine with its products, so the decision to replace them with Apple’s devices has nothing to do with their performance.
“We have a great partnership with Delta. The company decided, as part of its hardware refresh cycle, to standardize on a 10.5 form factor for its electronic flight bag. Delta continues to invest in and is using Microsoft productivity and business applications, including Dynamics and Office 365 across their operations and will continue to do so,” a Microsoft spokesperson was quoted as saying by The Inquirer.
In conclusion, the lack of a powerful mobile platform is not the reason Delta stepped away from Microsoft products, though it’s pretty clear that for companies that are trying to commit to a single ecosystem such a thing certainly makes them look elsewhere.
The funny thing is that Microsoft was actually working on a smaller tablet called Surface Mini a long time ago, but the firm ditched it just before launch simply because it didn’t bring anything new to the market.