In yet another groundbreaking move for the airline and for air travel worldwide, JetBlue will be introducing a new cabin on it’s latest order of A321neo aircraft.
The new cabin, dubbed “Play-In-Mint,” is modeled after fast food restaurants and the successful venture by fast food company McDonalds. McDonalds wowed the world with it’s PlayPlace play areas in their restaurants in the 1970s all the way thru the 2000s.
McDonalds and the world has marveled how popular the play areas and happy meals with toys are with children. The company leadership quickly realized that not only does the PlayPlace attract children and their parents, but the company can also sell four times as many meals with the additional customer base. Children always come to McDonalds not for the meal, but for the toy it comes with. Additionally, they spend far longer at McDonalds as a result, increasing the opportunity to sell Happy Meals.
JetBlue, following the airline’s denied merger moves with Spirit, a recent announcement to cut back unprofitable flights, and it’s closure of Los Angeles as a hub, has been looking for new moves to increase passenger market share in North America and turn around it’s fortunes.
JetBlue has previously wowed the world twice with its amazing Mint business class product.
In 2013, JetBlue launched the A321 Mint Throne Suite, featuring closed suite doors that come as close as you can to an office in the sky.
Then again in 2021, the carrier impressively wowed the aviation world with it’s A321LR herringbone Mint seats, which also feature the incredible new Mint Studio Suite.
Now they’re doing it again with the new “Play-In-Mint” children’s cabin. This is a unique offering that’s never been tried before in any aviation market.
The struggling airline wishes to increase market share and popularity with families traveling with children.
“Family ticket sales are better than single ticket sales,” said JetBlue’s new CEO in the official announcement. “We believe we can sell up to four or five tickets, instead of just a single seat or a pair, thus making our airline competitive with much larger carriers.”
JetBlue Play-In-Mint Cabin Inspiration
The new CEO of JetBlue recently visited Kyushu in Japan and was inspired by the magnificent Japanese train system, some trains which feature play areas on special trains.
Specifically, the JR Kyushu Aso Boy train in Kyushu Japan features special cafe for kids, a book collection on the train, a special seat for adult and child pairs, and a wood filled pool play area right on the train!
The White Kuro seats are special paired seats for an Adult-Child pair to sit together, with the child always sitting on the window side on the miniature seats. There’s also a Japanese Style room where children can play on the floor.
The key feature is the wood filled pool where children can play in a massive onboard ball-pit. A cabin attendant is always by the wood-filled Pool to watch and play with children.
The Book Collection features a collection of picture books, including original Kuro picture books.
The train has a Kuro on the exterior of the train in 101 different poses. The train is also decorated with Kuro illustrations on the inside and outside. All passengers receive a special commemorative Kuro card from the train ride.
JetBlue Play-In-Mint Cabin Features
The new JetBlue cabins are based on the JR Kyushu Aso Boy trains in Kyushu.
All seats on the new aircraft are staggered, with the window side featuring miniature seats for young children. JetBlue also believes this will improve fuel efficiency on its flights due to the reduced weight of these miniature seats, creating a new path to profitability.
The new cabins feature large 6 foot wide interior pool pits filled with bamboo balls, which are available for use by both children and adults. Flight Attendants will be standing by to play with both children and adults using the ball pit.
The cabin also includes one slide that falls into the wooden ball pit. Passengers can access the entry of the slide by climbing into the overhead luggage storage bin, which includes a hole that exits into the slide.
A new section of the rear cabin includes a special picture book library lounge, where children can also play on the floor.
Upon arrival the plane also includes a special air slide that deploys from the rear of the aircraft. These feature automatic door that open after the flight, unlike Boeing’s B737 doors which sometimes blow out mid-flight.
”Our aircraft already have built in inflatable slides for emergencies, and we wanted to find ways to increase utilization of all aircraft features during revenue flights as well,” noted the JetBlue CEO.
Instead of amenity kits, passengers will receive JetBlue branded “Mint Meals” and a free toy with each flight. Toy choices include “Miss Blue” and “Mister Mint,” two new characters JetBlue has created to market it’s new service.
All passengers will also receive a commemorative card on their flights, celebrating their journey on the airline.
Other Airlines Take Note of JetBlue’s Announcement
In line with JetBlue’s new announcement, North American airlines including Delta, United, even Frontier have taken note and are planning to launch similar cabins in 2025.
Delta announced they will be launching their “Play In One” cabin on their newest A350-900 and A330-900neo jets due for delivery, in lieu of Comfort+ seating. Delta’s cabin will be branded “Play In One” and feature the most exclusive play area cabins in the sky, all perfected by luxurious details that truly make a difference in how you spend your time in the air. Diamond Medallions can upgrade into this cabin using a Global Upgrade Certificate, or starting at an additional 55,000 SkyMiles per flight.
United has a different take and plans to hand out special Polaris Happy Meals with Smiley Faces for all passengers Flying the Friendly Skies. Premier Status holders also get a special Polaris upgrade featuring Saks Fifth Avenue branded play-kits.
Frontier, not to be left behind, will introduce it’s basic economy version of the Play Area. Passengers will be charged $5-15 per visit to the new ball pit at the rear of select aircraft.
Meanwhile across the Atlantic, Air France has announced “Play Area L’Elegance,” a Parisian themed play area with special Red, White and Blue French design elements, faux baguettes and rubber brie wheels, allowing passengers to be transported into the iconic world of Air France. In addition to its hard product, the airline will introduce a new exclusive children’s cuisine based on Michelin Star French delicacies.
Meanwhile, Lufthansa, not to be outdone by the French and seeking to extend the life of it’s historic A340-600 aircraft, will convert the lower level economy restrooms and stairs into a massive slide that ends in the largest ball-pit play area available in the sky.
Unfortunately this will only be available to economy class passengers. However, Business Class passengers can look forward to the same feature on it’s B747s – the upper deck stair will be converted into an inflatable slide for one hour of each long distance flight.
Emirates, world renowned global carrier not one to be left behind either, plans to convert one of two stairs on select A380 aircraft into permanent gold and sapele plated slides exclusively available to First and Business Class passengers. Passengers using the onboard Business Class lounge and bar on the A380 are advised not to bring their drinks with them on the slide. Unfortunately, this feature will not be available on the legacy B777 jets the carrier flies across the world.
Meanwhile on the ground, Amtrak was also considering adding a play area on it’s long distance trains, but couldn’t secure any funding from the US Government to study financial returns.
April Fools 2024
This is an April Fools 2024 satire humorous post! I hope you enjoyed it. If you’re an agent from one of the aforementioned airlines – we mean well, and this is a satirical post in good spirits! Don’t sue us, please!!
Finally, I honestly love the Aso Boy train concept in Kyushu Japan, and hope to review it later this year. What I’m actually interested in is not the children’s area, but the cool sightseeing car and lounge these trains also have.
For the remainder of April, Oscape has a massive queue of articles covering topics in Japan (and one very special article from a North American flight). After that, we’ll be covering Turkiye and Thailand thru the months of May and June, before going back to Europe and North America in July. Stay tuned!
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