Today, it’s our pleasure to announce that All Nippon Airways (ANA) is using Ditto’s resilient data sync and networking SDK in its new application to support cabin crew collaboration and passenger services. Starting in early summer, Ditto will be live on all of ANA’s international flights!

In an airplane cabin at 45,000 feet, efficient collaboration is paramount to providing high-quality customer service. Building collaborative apps that enable data sharing in these environments is tricky, especially when deploying a local server isn’t easy. These factors were vital for ANA when implementing onboard mobile solutions.

Passengers today have lots of options when choosing an airline. As such, stellar inflight service is a significant factor in ensuring passengers fly again. When connectivity interrupts cabin service, this directly affects both inflight and future revenues. With Ditto onboard, ANA is taking a significant step towards ensuring uninterrupted service. By allowing crucial mobile applications to operate in any environment, from the ground to the air, ANA dramatically reduces the risks of going offline. Ditto's ability to dynamically manage and switch between multiple online and offline connection methods to synchronize passenger and flight information offers ANA flight attendants a reliable and real-time mobile app experience in the sky.

“We first piloted a project with Ditto that explored how its technology could support our flight crews,” said Keiichi Ueda, Vice President, Digital Transformation & Innovation of ANA. “That initial work clearly demonstrated the potential for Ditto’s technology to maintain digital collaborative applications even when offline and has led us to select Ditto as our digital communications platform for all our international flight services.”

When internet connectivity is poor or lost, devices with Ditto-powered apps automatically discover each other, connect, and exchange relevant data, resulting in seamless collaboration throughout the cabin that increases customer satisfaction.

By building with Ditto, the ANA mobile app doesn’t require the internet or network hardware to share data across flight crew devices. Flight attendants use this app to manage inventory, chat with team members, and track passenger information, allowing them to provide streamlined onboard hospitality and services to passengers. ANA has deployed 5,000 iPad minis across their fleet and is expanding to all aircraft types in early summer following successful pilot tests last year.