The basic idea for a wireless system was born three years ago in Delta's airport-operations department. This past January, then-operations-portfolio director Tim Rider, 35, was charged with assessing a variety of wireless-technology possibilities. Later that month, Delta CIO Bob DeRoades called a summit to evaluate all of the new technology initiatives in the company. Rider's wireless strategy was put near the top of the priority list. In the Pit, Tracy Hankin, 32, a three-year BCG veteran, had already taken ownership of the company's wireless ventures. Together, Rider and Hankin put together the team that was charged with steering the venture.

The sheer breadth of the proposal made the project unusually complex. "With 75,000 employees and one million customer touch points a day, don't underestimate the effect that this technology could have," says James Whitehurst, 32, principal of the e-Ventures group. "How do we negotiate wireless rights in airports? How do we use the technology to further customer service? We have a motto around here: Beware of destroying option value. We don't want to do anything now that might hurt us later."

That's why Rider and Hankin enlisted e-enablers from 30 different functional areas. "This project was totally invasive for Delta," Rider says. Rider's and Hankin's basic questions: How would the wireless initiative affect your group's operation? And what needs to happen within your group to make the venture a success? Betty Hollan, 39, general manager for Delta's hospitality services, was chosen to be the e-enabler who represented the Crown Room Clubs. Her expertise was important, since the airline plans to install the wireless system in every club nationwide, but not in every airport terminal. "I got a homework assignment," Hollan says. "My team had to determine that there was a customer need. Then we had to assess where our clubs were, and how many customers used each one. And we also had to work out an implementation schedule."

Within a month, the team had settled on a technology strategy. It had also narrowed an initial list of five possible partners down to SoftNet and two others. "We looked for a partner whose vision matched ours," Hankin says.

Hankin, who was an investment banker before she joined BCG, took over the partnership negotiations. She kept e-enablers in the loop, though. At points, the group met every afternoon; e-enablers were fed contractual details and were asked to return their feedback. The process was stunningly efficient. "They funneled all of our contacts with Delta through a single contact," says SoftNet CEO and chairman Larry Brilliant, 56. "They kept us insulated from their process, so we didn't need to have 10 meetings" to iron out details.

From concept to contract, the wireless partnership took just two months. Now comes the hard part: Delta and SoftNet have to make it work. Hankin and Rider, who is now Delta's director of wireless programs, will oversee the initiative through its implementation; the e-enablers will stay involved to coordinate activity between departments. "The work really starts now," says Hollan.

The wireless venture won't bring riches to Delta overnight. But it's a credible piece of a broader e-commerce strategy -- one that promises, over time, to tap into new revenue sources, deliver cost savings, and, possibly, redefine the company's relationships with its customers. Some 40 possible partnerships are now in the e-Ventures hopper -- and with each deal that actually gets made, Delta gains more technology, flexibility, and speed. And it acts more and more like its people in the Pit.

Keith H. Hammonds (khammonds@fastcompany.com) is a Fast Company senior editor. Contact Michele Burns by email (michele.burns@delta-air.com). As this article went to press, Ed West announced that he's leaving Delta to become CFO of Internet Capital Group.

Sidebar: Virtual Tickets, Real Money

Airlines are racing to sell more tickets on the Web. Why? Simple. It's much, much cheaper than any of the alternatives.

Today, Delta Air Lines, like most major carriers, distributes about 70% of its tickets through travel agents. Each one of those round-trips costs the airline $10 in fees. Delta's annual tab: $330 million.

The cost of accepting an online reservation and of processing an e-ticket via delta-air.com, however, is close to zero. Delta has sold nearly 5% of its tickets, representing $400 million this year, on its site -- second among airlines only to Southwest Airlines. And Delta is building online business through an alliance with e-Travel for large corporate sales, and through its new MYOB ("mind your own business") Travel Web site for smaller-business customers.

By 2003, Delta expects that delta-air.com will account for up to 20% of the company's sales. Online agencies will sell another 15% to 20%. Those percentages include tickets that are distributed through Delta's partner priceline.com and through the industry consortium (which is still in the works) that Delta is spearheading in an attempt to compete head-on with Travelocity.com.

Delta's net financial benefit from online distribution this year: $20 million. And the company expects that number to leap to $150 million by 2002. "Even for a $16 billion company," says senior VP Vincent Caminiti, "that's real money."