Fawning over Silverjet's New Mobile Website
4/11/2008 at 12:30 PM
Tags: Silverjet, Travel Tech, Websites, Travel Websites, All Business Class Carriers (all tags)
Only hours after we heard that Silverjet was this close to getting acquired, we met up with George Henderson, the carrier's IT director. True enough, he told us, there's some interest in the airline--but nothing's set in stone. But that's not why we were chatting. We wanted to know more about Silverjet's newly launched mobile website.
The short review? It's really cool. George pulled it up live and showed us how to check the status of a flight, how to request a special meal, how to get terminal maps and even how to buy tickets via BlackBerry. Seriously. (JAL already does 5 percent of its bookings via mobile.)
Since the all-biz-class carrier attracts tech-savvy passengers that are basically hardwired to their smartphones, George figures the new site can't help but catch on. And after seeing the live demonstration, we can see why.
We've gotten SMSs from an airline before--after setting them up ahead of time. But the Silverjet site gives you everything you need live and on-demand. From phone numbers for customer service to seat selection, you're tapped into the carrier on all fronts.
Coming soon are user profiles and restaurant, bar and attraction listings tailored to your preferences. The profile will let you store all your info with Silverjet, making repeat bookings easier. As for the listings, the airline hopes to ping you with stuff of interest in its destination cities: New York, London and Dubai. So, for example, if you've got a couple hours between meetings, Silverjet might message you about the new exhibit at the MoMA since your profile says you enjoy art.
IT director George says he took the project from start to finish in six weeks, which is pretty amazing given that he works for an airline. Our only question: When will Charles Ogilvie get something like this going for Virgin America?
Related Stories:
· Silverjet Mobile: A Sivilised Way to Browse [Official Site]
· Silverjet coverage [Jaunted]
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