Choose who is sitting next to you on a plane!

A value proposition with resulting experiences is different from a customer to another. When it comes to booking a flight, some people just want a cheap flight at good fit time. They don’t care about other things, such as, the good services, comfortable seats and exceptional experience because for them it’s just something that gets them to their destination. Other people’ value proposition of a flight is more than a seat. They care about customer service, lining up, plane atmosphere, great experience...etc. However, most of the people for some reasons, such as, the smell of the fast food he/she is eating or talking to them. Their flight experience might be ruined because of that person.

Why don’t airlines add this feature called “Passenger Match Maker” or “Passenger-mate Selector” in addition to the other features, such as, seat preference (window or aisle) and food preference? Here are some examples of criteria that help selecting the person seated next to you.

Seat preference:

Aisle, window, middle seat or any.

Doing on plane:

• Eating, not eating or doesn’t matter.
• Reading, not or doesn’t matte
• Sleeping, not or doesn’t matter.
• Drinking, not or doesn’t matter.
• Watching movies, not or doesn’t matter.
• Talking to the person next to you, not or doesn’t matter.

Interests:

• Spoken language.
• Reading: novels, business, technology…etc.
• Movies: drama, comedy…etc.
• Business/Job field: marketing, law, IT…etc.
• Student major: business, computer science…etc.
• Hobbies: designing, photography, sport…etc.
• Digital games: sport, car raising…etc.
• Watching sport: football, basketball…etc.

Other criteria might be added as long as well. This optional feature is provided when a customer books a flight online.

No matter what value proposition and customer experience you are looking for in a flight, the passenger seated next to you might make it a bad experience and airlines might have no control on it. Therefore, selecting the person seated next to you based on the criteria above as long as there is no discrimination might tailor the experience you are looking for. Everyone has the right to enjoy a flight in a way as he/she prefers. If some people prefer to sit next to people who are like-minded, let's give them that option. Technology makes our lives smarter, easier, more convenient and better. Let’s use it to have a better customizable flight experience.