ARCHIVES: This is legacy content from before Marketing Dive acquired Mobile Marketer in early 2017. Some information, such as publication dates, may not have migrated over. Check out the new Marketing Dive site for the latest marketing news.

Virgin Atlantic launches iPhone app for nervous flyers

Virgin Atlantic Airlines has made its Flying Without Fear course into an iPhone application.

The application was developed by Mental Workout and features a series of videos and quizzes to help iPhone users overcome their fear of flying. The course claims to have a success rate of more than 98 percent.

?From Flying Without Fear?s point of view, Sir Richard Branson has always been interested in innovation and a big area he pinpointed years ago was mobile technology,? said Paul Tizzard, director and cofounder of Flying Without Fear, Surrey, England. ?He was keen to support any innovation so we knew he?d be behind this application, which he is.

?We did an application because it?s our passion to help people fly,? he said. ?We run courses in the U.K., so an application is a way for people that don?t have access to reach us.

?It?s a way to get to people who couldn?t get to us.?

Flying Without Fear is a course designed to help people overcome their fear of flying and other anxieties related to flying.

To create the application, Virgin Atlantic, a worldwide airline, worked with Mental Workout, a company that develops mobile applications focused on improving lives by helping people resolve issues and increase mental performance.

The application is $4.99 and can be used without a Wi-Fi signal.

Sir Richard Branson provides a video introduction to the application.

The application also includes a video-based in-flight explanation of a flight from start to finish.

In the frequently-asked-questions category, consumers can view answers with sound clips and browse questions about topics such as pilots, engines and weather.

Relaxation exercises targeted to certain common flying fears are also featured inside the application.

The application also features breathing techniques designed to be effective during the take-off and landing portions of the flight when the application cannot be accessed.

A menu in the application also describes exercises a therapist would do with a patient when he or she was having an anxiety attack.

Application users can also tailor a specific program where, based on a few questions and answers, the application will create a list of exercises and techniques to help the flyer overcome fears.

With the My Program portion of the application, the user can set the date of their next flight and get push alerts reminding them to do the exercises recommended by the application.

Mr. Tizzard said that there are no immediate plans for an extension to any other mobile platform.

Mickey Beyer-Clausen, founder/CEO of Mental Workout, Southhampton, NY, said that the iPhone platform was the best for functionality and user base purposes.

Mr. Tizzard said that the physical course has seen a broad spectrum when it comes to the ages of students, from six to 85-years-old.

Both men and women email Mr. Tizzard with the same amount of frequency, but Mr. Tizzard said that women outrank the men in terms of actually taking the course.

Because the physical course is in Britain, Mr. Tizzard said that it is hard to reach the amount of people who have inquired about his program. However, the application addresses that problem and reinforces the teachings of the in-person course.

?We?ve had people fly in from the U.S. to do the course in the U.K., but to some, the thought of flying to do a course is beyond them,? Mr. Tizzard said. ?We do a daily immersion course and at the end take students on a test flight.

?It?s quite intense and the application is something to reinforce that learning,? he said.