United Airlines providing iPhone 6 Plus to more than 23,000 flight attendants
The iPhone 6 Plus has been dominating the phablet market since its release, but thanks to United Airlines the device is about to become omnipresent on certain flights. Today United announced they will be equipping more than 23,000 flight attendants with the devices for company use and customer service.
Flight attendants will start getting their iPhone 6 Plus' in the second quarter of 2015. United says the phones will allow attendants to make retail transactions, access company email, view airline manuals, and access the company's internet network.
Attendants will also be able to report and follow-up on cabin issues, including needed repairs, through the phones. There's no word yet on how transactions will be handled, but it would be simple and inexpensive to equip the phones with card readers.
Sam Risoli, United Airlines senior vice president of inflight services, had this to say on the iPhone program.
We are thrilled to make this investment in our flight attendants. iPhone 6 Plus will enable them to deliver an even higher level of flyer-friendly service and will offer our flight attendants simple, one-touch access to valuable work information, enabling them to better serve our customers.
In addition to giving its employees the iPhone, United announced plans to develop tools for customers using the iPhone 6 Plus. Whether this will be some version of Apple Pay or simply allowing transactions on the United app, we'll have to wait and see.
