Flight Assist

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Inspiration

As travelers, we learned over the course of our airline travels that there are several things worse than our plane falling out of the sky:

1. Not knowing when exactly the plane's bathroom will be free and
2. Missing out the free food and drinks on the flight

We are trying to fix that with Flight Assist.

What it does

This application will make it easier for flyers to:

- Know when in-flight service will begin/has passed

We've all been there. You're thirsty and you're tired. You say you'll nap after you grab a drink but it's been 30 minutes and you're not sure when distribution will start. You're getting sleepy and before you know it, its dark. When you wake up, the attendant is two rows past your aisle with no signs of turning back.

This should happen no longer with Flight Assist. Know exactly when service will start & how many times over the course of your flight the attendants will make the rounds.

- Know who is in the queue for the restrooms

Finally. The occupied light is off oo the rear plane restroom. You've been waiting at least an hour and have been intercepted twice. There's no stopping you from getting to the bathroom now.... except for the mom and her kid three rows behind you (therefore closer to the back of the plane) ignorant to your plight. Well, you say as you leap-frog over your napping aisle-mates to get back to your awesome window seats, Fourth time's the charm, I guess?

With Flight Assist, no longer will there be false alarms for bathroom runs or memorizing where in the imaginary line you stand to go next. With a system in place, those on board will follow a queue that will dictate who goes next in a first-come-first-serve manner. Whoohoo!

- Order food/service without bothering neighbors

Let's say you're an extremely shy introvert. Let's also say you've missed the snack and drink train while it was going by and you really don't want to push that call button for the flight attendant. Like.. really. After all, if you were to do that, that means you'd have to engage in conversation. Not only that, but you'd probably end up waking up your seat mates to let them know along with the flight attendant that you would like that diet sprite and cheesy trail mix. This simply won't do. In fact, starvation and dehydration sounds better than any of that.

Well, dehydrate and starve not, shy introvert! Not with Flight Assist on the case! Using the mobile app to order food and drink is an easy way to let the flight attendants know exactly what you want and where on the plane you are. You don't have to say a single word. That's right! No words! Its almost every shy introvert's dream come true!!!

How I built it

This application was written in Framework7, HTML, and Javascript. There was a brainstorming session in which we wondered what the main hospitality problems were when it came to being in the air. Then we came up with the frameworks we would use, then we coded and developed the application.

Challenges I ran into

It was my (Ruth's) first time coding in Framework7 and while it is very similar to HTML and Javascript, it has its own nuances that make it difficult to use. There were bugs that made some features unable to be used which took up time to realize. Making sure things were completed on time was a pretty big challenge.

Another challenge was other coursework that had to be done over the weekend in tandem with the Hackathon projects.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I loved that we were able to come up with this idea and try to implement it. We loved that we would (even if no one else would) use the app.

What I learned

I learned more about time management and about Framework7. This is a Hackathon and while it may be easier to use technologies I am familiar with, it doesn't help me grow as a programmer. I liked knowing that coming up with an idea and implementing it can happen within the span of 36 hours. Even if it is just a quick demo/idea hashing.

What's next for Flight Assist

Full implementation!

It would be nice if the Flight Attendants wouldn't have to make their rounds anymore and relied on Flight Assist. Flight Assist would be able to handle payments & ordering within the app. In addition to this, another feature can be seat swapping for people who want to switch seats with another person before the flight boards (or maybe during provided it isn't too dangerous). This of course would be more so for economy-economy and business-business.

What would be even more awesome is if Flight Assist could branch into a sort of community mode that allows people to know each other on the flight if they so choose. It could be a a small community in the air that can play games over wi-fi or chat if they so desire while in flight. Travelers can share tips about the locations they are arriving to among other cool things if they so wish. Its very hospitable!

Built With

• framework7
• html
• javascript