In my last post I’ve written about how an app might revolutionize travel by airplane for people with a fear of flying. However, there’s way more to revolutionize within the airline industry, also for people without a fear of flying!

Travelling by airplane isn’t always comfortable. You go to the airport, wait in line for security and afterwards you’ll do some shopping. Now, in order to not be late for your flight, you’ll head to the gate a little bit too early and there you find yourself waiting in line again. Finally, once you’re seated aboard… the seat is not that comfortable actually. From entering the airport to sitting in your seat, the passenger experience is not per se great. Now, this problem of comfort is exactly what a team from the TU Delft is working on in cooperation with Zodiac Seats, a US-based airplane seat manufacturer. What it’s called? MySeat!

MySeat combines data analysis, existing knowledge on comfort of passengers and wishes of passengers to create an optimal passenger experience by personalising the airplane seat (Miedema, 2018). As you can see from the picture above, the design of the seat has been changed to make it more ergonomic. Moreover, the back side of the seat is a screen that a passenger can personalise and edit before even stepping on board. I guess that MySeat – or any other similar type of airplane seat – will increase the customisation and personalisation options continually in the future. By doing so, your airplane seat, and thus flying in general, will become a little bit more comfortable.

What do you think of this innovation? Will this increase comfort or passenger experiences throughout flights? Do you have any ideas of how new innovations might be able to disrupt or improve flying experiences?

References

Miedema, J. (2018). MySeat: Development of a user focused aircraft seat. [online] TU Delft repository. Available at: https://repository.tudelft.nl/islandora/object/uuid:1a77e68d-54ab-4970-80f5-75fe5a51f408?collection=education [Accessed 7 Oct. 2018].

It’s around 21.30 last Monday, and I’m flying to Copenhagen. Next to me is an empty seat (that’s the best isn’t it?), and on the aisle seat sits a women. During taxiing to the runway she gets a bit nervous and during takeoff she holds on tight to the armrests of her seat. Her face looks scared. We take off, and after about 5 minutes she starts to relax again. Luck wasn’t on her side though… about 15 minutes into our flight, turbulence hits. She now holds on tight to the seat in front of her. Long story short, and as you might have guessed by now, she was suffering from an intense fear of flying. After we landed, I started to think: aren’t there any apps that help passengers suffering from a fear of flying?

After a quick search online, I stumbled upon an app called SkyGuru. SkyGuru needs your flight details and it needs access to your phone’s microphone before you put your phone on airplane mode. Then the magic happens: based on the phone’s gyroscope and the microphone, the app helps the user with step-by-step remarks by a pilot or psychologist throughout the different stages of flight (Forbes.com, 2018). Apparently, SkyGuru also predicts turbulence, and if it hits it explains that there’s no need to worry (SkyGuru.com, 2018). The app has been released earlier this year, so there’s still a lot of room for improvement, but the future of passengers suffering from fear of flying looks good!

Do you have any other examples of apps that help with fear of flying? Even better, do you suffer from fear of flying? Then try out the app and please let us know here how it works.

References:

Forbes.com. (2018). [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbender/2016/12/13/10-great-gifts-for-travelers-2016-edition/#2a5cb96856ee [Accessed 22 Sep. 2018].

SkyGuru.com. (2018). [online] Available at: http://myskyguru.com/ [Accessed 22 Sep. 2018].