Alaska Airlines plans to be fully on board when the Apple Watch launches tomorrow.
The new Alaska Airlines app for Apple Watch, announced this morning, will initially provide travelers with six types of information, from when they can check in for a flight to how much time remains before their plane boards or lands.
The intent, the Seattle-based company says, is not to replace its smartphone app, but to supplement it. As Alaska UI/UX designer Frances Brendon explains, “We sliced it up and asked ourselves, ‘What is the most important piece of information for someone to know at this point, at this point, at this point.'”
The companion to Alaska Airlines’ mobile app will be available when the Apple Watch arrives April 24 and will offer a half-dozen features:
- Check-in now notification
- Connecting gate information
- Gate change
- Count-down to start of boarding
- Count-down to landing
- Flight delay/cancellation notification
Alaska’s app joins a wide variety of travel-related Apple Watch apps already announced, including those from Expedia, HotelTonight, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, American Airlines and TripAdvisor.
“Wearable technology is really fitting in a travel setting,” says Alaska Airlines developer Alven Mei, noting its appeal to “power travelers.”
Alaska Airlines has a long history of working to be at the forefront of technology for fliers, from biometrics last year to in-flight entertainment devices in 2003 and the very first web ticket sales in the 1990s.
