Written for the Airline Passenger Experience Association – APEX.aero
Although many airline passengers enjoy the experience of flying, there are those who simply don’t. For those passengers, even the thought of having to get on a plane can induce anxiety, stress and even crippling fear. There are seminars and personalized programs for anxious passengers, and just last week, All Nippon Airways (ANA) introduced a smartphone app that might just help.
The new “ANA Takeoff Mode” is a simple puzzle game that’s accompanied by relaxing background music. Currently available through the Apple store, a player tilts their iPhone or iPad to maneuver a ball over a grid, rolling over game pieces to add or lose extra points and time credits.
There are multiple levels to the game, each more challenging, with portions of the grid popping up to block the movement of the ball. While the game is being played, the app “listens” to the ambient noise in the cabin, and when the aircraft’s engines are at full throttle during takeoff, a special animation and message is displayed.
ANA developed the app after commissioning a 1,000 person survey, investigating passengers’ feelings about airline travel. The survey found that the most anxious flyers find takeoff to be the most stress-inducing part of the journey. Interestingly, passengers ranked puzzle games second only to listening to music as their preferred way to relax during a flight.
With changes in rules now allowing the use of personal electronic devices during all phases of flight, ANA saw the development of the app as a way to enhance passengers’ in-flight experience. “Now we hope that the ‘ANA Takeoff Mode’ will ease and relax flyers, allowing them to enjoy their flight with ANA from the very beginning,” says Masaki Yokai, VP Marketing & Sales, The Americas.
Since its introduction last week, the app has had over 1,100 downloads. Development of the app began in September 2014, and an Android version is expected to be available in early 2015.
Purely in the name of journalistic research, Your Intrepid Reporter yesterday installed “ANA Takeoff Mode” on an iDevice. After a short test, the impression is the app is much like an electronic version of the old “Labyrinth” game, in which a ball on a tilting platform is maneuvered along a path by turning mechanically-linked knobs.
It was remarkable how engrossing Takeoff Mode became, accompanied by the app’s soothing music track. However, although many patrons were talking loudly, the ambient sound in the testing location (neighborhood coffee shop) could not be increased to match the noise level of a pair of mighty GE90-115B engines powering a Boeing 777-300ER to takeoff speed, so the app’s special takeoff animation was not observed.