Virgin tackles fear of flying with iPhone app
If you are scared of flying, never fear, Richard Brason is here! President of Virgin Atlantic, Branson, has released a new iPhone app to help nervous flyers make it through their first flight.
Called the Flying Without Fear app, it features an introduction by Branson himself, a video explaining how flying works, FAQs, relaxation exercises, and an emergency panic button to press for breathing exercises.
The app is based on Virgin Atlantic Airways’ Flying Without Fear course, designed to help people take their mind off flying.
Branson claims the app will “put many travelers at ease and enable them to prepare for their first Virgin Atlantic flight”.
“Our first iPhone app will bring the benefits of our successful Flying Without Fear course to millions of people around the world who are now using mobile technology to make their lives better,” Branson said in a statement.
NASA releases free iPhone app
Nokia sues Apple for iPhone infringement
This “app” – like the old Pan Am course from 1975 which I worked with – is based on breathing exercises. Though they help people relax on the ground, for fear of flying they are useless.
Whoever put this cr-app together for Branson didn’t even bother to check the research. (See research at http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/42/13/25).
There are advanced methods for dealing with fear of flying but this isn’t one of them.