Southwest Airlines has refreshed its inflight moving map and become the launch airline for a new Destination Reels application showcasing the places the airline flies to.
Powdered by moving map specialists FlightPath 3D, the new inflight experience gives passengers an all-in-one virtual world where passengers can use augmented reality and watch short-form videos linked to their flight and their destination. They can access a 3D map of the route and virtual reality views of the flight deck, window, and aircraft, as well as viewing what it claims is the world’s first inflight Destination Reels app.
The app is an immersive travel guide loaded with mobile-friendly, short-form videos for all of Southwest’s 118 destinations and is designed to be a ground-breaking offer.
Passengers get to see a view that the pilots get via a virtual flight deck and window, with the tech reflecting the exact aircraft model of the specific Southwest aircraft they’re flying on.
Or they can explore the destination ahead, perhaps with a walk on a beach in Miami or by browsing through video playlists themed around nature, architecture, or instagrammable hot spots, for example. They can also build their own itinerary, save it, and share it.
Tony Roach, Vice President Customer Experience & Engagement at Southwest Airlines, said: “More than one-third of all time spent in the inflight portal is time interacting with the flight tracker and destination guide and we know our customers enjoy this feature while onboard. We are excited to be the launch airline for this Flight Tracker with Destination Reels, delivering exclusive short video destination content directly to our customers as we continue to enhance our customer experience throughout their journey.”
FlightPath3D is putting its full force behind the Destination Reels innovation to help bring the airline’s destinations to life. Passengers can get an insight into the top 100 experiences trending in San Francisco, for example, or choose a playlist that shows the most photogenic, family-friendly, or must-see museums. After browsing the built-in lists, passengers may decide to build, organize, and map their own itinerary with the trip planning feature.
Duncan Jackson, President of FlightPath3D, said: “There is a gap between the onboard experience and what consumers are used to with apps such as Instagram, TikTok, etc. We’ve created a virtual 3D world to track the flight packed with a feed of thousands of destination videos to bridge this gap. We’re using data science to rank attractions and help match user interests to destination experiences to promote more travel.”
