UX: Up in the Air

On the day of my flight, I used Uber to book my very expensive ride to the airport, since Bengaluru airport is really far (It takes 3 hrs to reach the airport and 3 hrs to reach Delhi from Bengaluru…). After the long line at the baggage drop counter, I was finally in.

P.S. I am skipping my food journey here.

Everything was done and dusted, zipped in my PPE (I’ve had COVID, no intentions to contract the creepy zombie again), seatbelt fastened, and mobile phone ready with all episodes of witcher downloaded.

There came the flight attendant. Again this is not a user experience of a rude or cute flight attendant. I was expecting the usual speech – “Deviyon aur sajjano aapka Bengaluru ke Kempegowda antarrashtriya hawai adde pe aapka swagat hai. Aapki suraksha ko dhyan mein rakhte hue aap se nivedan hai ki apne kursi ki peti ko bandh le. Flap ko Iss tarah uthaye… Iss vivaan mein 8 aapatkalin dwaar hai…” .

For my non-Hindi speaking readers:

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Bengaluru’s Kempegowda airport. For your safety, fasten your seatbelt… This flight has 8 emergency exits…”

While you read this, don’t forget the attendants doing all that hand gestures to make their point.

But here’s the catch.

On this flight, the attendants asked us to watch our screens in front of us. It was a video of a yoga instructor talking about the same old flight instructions, but with a twist of nature and yoga.

For those of you wondering what this is about – sharing a link to the video for your reference. 

The yoga instructor demonstrated brief asanas, pranayama, dhyanas, and more to help people relax, and breathe properly, and simple stretching exercises for muscle fatigue or stiffness whilst being seated in the flight (don’t hit your neighbor when you do that!). It also provides strategies to help with smoking cravings. Along with these simple relaxation techniques, the video also demonstrated the safety protocols of seatbelts, oxygen masks, and emergency exits.