Maybe a niche area, but there is enough and more engineering in aircraft cabin interior design as is with home and commercial space designing Aircraft cabin design is a combination of floor planning, information and entertainment integration and installation, safety regulation implementation and interior decorating – all inside the limited confines of an airplane. Aircraft cabin design encompasses everything from window dressings and seat fabric to lighting, screen placement and wiring.
Aircraft interiors are just as much about passenger comfort and conveniences as it is about operational safety. Designing cabin interiors is getting ever so customized and in equal measure, having to earn safety certifications and airworthiness from regulators like FAA, EASA and the local DGCA, as each element evolves and upgrades happen.
Cabin crew and passengers alike, have to manage within a limited space for long hours, without compromising on safety and security.
Unpredictable events may occur anytime during the course of passenger activity within the cabin – while travelers rest, eat, entertain and while using the lavatories.
Safety and security of all these areas and items that make up an aircraft cabin, cannot be unpinned enough. At the same time, carriers vie with each other to offer a high degree of ‘luxe’, seating and sleeping comfort, and superb inflight F & B experience, and the same goes for entertainment and connectivity.
Upon stepping onboard an aircraft, one gets taken in by the sense of luxury, comfort and great entertainment and connectivity on offer. The meticulous designing, testing and planning safety and reliability of cabin interior features must be appreciated just as much.
Unlike traditional interior designing, cabin design requires expertise in materials, safety guidelines, technology and engineering.
While airlines and OEMs strive to create ‘wow’ moments in designing perfect cabin interiors, myriads of items ( and mind-boggling at that) are used in fit-outs and structures inside cabin classes. These must be mandatory, and certified for safety and airworthiness at the time of being fabricated, fitted and used by the OEM and operator.
Cabin Interior parts
Inside an aircraft cabin, items and requirements of consideration are air Ionization and purification systems, seats and private suites (more recently), overhead bins, cabin lighting, oxygen and filtration systems, and passenger service areas.
Cabin interiors must be replete with surveillance life vests, all of that make up IFE systems and lavatories (washrooms).
Lavatories must be fitted with smoke detectors, and include air purifiers, liquid soap, water and wastewater management systems.
Crew areas consist of galley inserts, cabin crew seats, crew rest areas, food and beverage storage areas, food trolleys, and flight announcement panels.
While passenger aircraft carry a certain amount of cargo, there are specific requirements here as well. Cargo hold areas are fitted with powered and mechanical cargo loading systems and components, cargo surveillance, and door systems.
From passenger seats to integrated cabins, for all types of aircraft: business and commercial airplanes, military aircraft and helicopters.
To ensure top-flight quality, and operating efficiency, while also making the air travel experience tasteful, pleasant and easy, where a cabin is crafted as an integrated whole.
Seats
Seating is a major consideration and OEMs have gone back to the drawing board time and again to come up with superior seating comfort, and ergonomic designs that ensure passengers feel refreshed and recharged on arrival at their destinations.
Innovative designs that give passengers more legroom, ergonomics for superior comfort, and all this without reducing capacity,
Efficient, and innovative space management for seating passengers efficiently, is the name of the game.
While the staple fare remains Economy, Business and First Class, cabin configurations have gone through serious considerations and we have the advent of cabin classes such as Premium Economy, Premiere, to First-class Suites / Residences – virtually exclusive living areas with shower suites, dining and entertainment spaces et al. There is a continuous effort for improvements that exceed passenger expectations. A clutch of exclusive customers is willing to pay a hefty premium for such extravagances.
One area of passenger convenience that has reached criticality in terms of marketing a brand and customer choice, is innovative in-flight entertainment systems that the concept of a “connected cabin” brings to the fore.
Cabin personalization and modification thereof can be further customized for business jets, or company owned, as per the requirement and tastes of the clientele.
Designers of aircraft interiors bring on the luxury quotient with the use of high-quality soft furnishing and refurbishments with aviation-grade leathers and carpet interior panel upgrades for a new, refreshed look.
To upgrade and give a new look to existing aircraft cabinetry, interior specialist use methods like strip, staining, and refinishing and use new laminate for a newer finish.
Designing Process
Once a design concept for cabin interiors is final, 3D renderings in detail are presented to the OEM. Design concepts include floorplans, seat selection, choice of veneer, cabinetry, and carpets. Older planes too go through interior upgrades and enhancements as per SOP.
Enhancing Safety in Design
Post Accidents/Incidents reports provide valuable insights into which safety and crashworthiness feature advancements are introduced in aircraft design. The objective is to improve survivability in the event of an accident or incident.
This has resulted in a higher rate of survivability thanks to manufacturers and regulators working closely to glean information to make air travel safer while enhancing comfort while traveling.
The three focus areas of aircraft interiors where safety features are introduced look at survivability during impact, during cabin fire and during evacuation.
Seat designing has a lot to do with improving survivability during an impact with seats made to remain in place to absorb shock in such an event. Seat backs are so designed to protect those behind the seat from a head injury. A head injury criterion has been set by the FAA.
Testing methods developed by FAA include surfaces such as cabin ceilings, walls, overhead bins and partitions. The material used must display heat and smoke emission reduction, as also a high rate of delay of onset of flashover (i.e., the simultaneous or near-simultaneous ignition of all flammable material in an enclosed area). Fire retardant systems, smoke detection and fire extinguishing systems, and insulation blankets are all included as items that increase chances of survivability due to cabin smoke and fire.
The FAA’s mandate of 90 seconds limit to evacuate all passengers from an airplane necessitated several features in the aircraft interior design. These include (see fig. 2) floor proximity lighting and escape slides.
Figure 2: Design features key to rapid evacuation
Floor proximity lighting improves the evacuation process through Evacuation is improved through the use of lights, and reflectors, that mark out the emergency escape path along the cabin floor.
Figure 3: Floor proximity lighting
Aircraft interiors are equipped with automatic, self-inflating slides that are made of fire-resistant material. They are also fabricated to be resistant to fluids, food contamination, and exposure to the sun.
The slides are subjected to several stringent tests such as fabric tensile and tear tests under varying conditions, fabric permeability tests, and several other durability tests and are made to withstand wet conditions and Centrifuge tests that meet U.S. FAA parameters.
Cutting Edge Cabin Electronics for a Superior Cabin Experience
With each upgrade or advancement in Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity systems, cabin electronics and passenger amenities and conveniences go through heightened enhancements.
While a select few passengers are willing to pay a hefty premium on the ticket price, carriers and OEMs are willing to use systems that are cutting -edge that delivers superior communication and entertainment features. Mood lifters sure are OLED displays used in innovative ways, LED reading lights and electrochromic shading.
Business jets, private jets and charter jets often allow for more flexibility in cabin design and tend to feature more advanced comfort features and IFEC elements. Private owners can:
Cabin designs are geared to have a lasting favorable impact on passengers’ travel experience. To this end, specialized lighting is fitted and calibrated to reduce jet lag.
Hi-res cabin audio with noise canceling technology can allow quiet times for some passengers to sleep in, whereas others may continue to enjoy audio and video feeds of their choice.
OLED screens, windows and virtual skylights can create mood lighting replicating night and day time zones, that an aircraft may be flying through.
Safety
Cabin safety and crashworthiness are always a priority on aircraft. Everything that goes into a cabin is heavily regulated by the FAA and EASA. Professionals who specialize in aircraft cabin design must be intimately familiar with relevant regulations that pertain to cabin safety, electronics and interior configurations.
Work with a Company on the Cutting-Edge Aircraft Cabin Design
One will find clients who own business jets, private jets and commercial passenger airliners’ front ends mainly, which can go through customization and retrofits. Cabin electronics are the mainstay of such customization.
Some of the Latest, Cutting-Edge Cabin Electronics include:
- Wireless charging stations, Electrochromic shading for windows, privacy screens and cabin dividers
- OLED displays to replace windows and add virtual skylights
- Projectors and Hi-res audio, Personal, Bulkhead displays
- Touch control units
The Magic of OLED Displays and Virtual Skylights
Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays don’t need to be backlit, and hence can be extraordinarily thin and flexible, enough to be installed on curved cabin ceilings and walls to fit around the shape of windows or skylights.
Micro LED that allows customized reading light, wireless charging stations, electrochromic shading for windows, privacy screens and cabin dividers, augmented reality, like holographic controls, projectors and screens, personal displays, bulkhead displays, touch control units, seat-in-seat text communications that give flyers magical moments during their journey for which, they want to come back for more. Carriers try and ensure that.
Some companies that specialize in aircraft cabin interiors are:
Collins Aerospace; Rockwell Collins; SA Sully; Stelia; UTAS Collins Lightning; Eaton Aerospace Motion Control Systems – Grand Rapids’; Wittenstein Aerospace AG
Ref. Credit:
- Flight Lines;
- Rosen Aviation
- Boeing
- Safran
- Payloads System Engineering
