It’s clear that one of the main trends for 2021 will be needing to reassure passengers of cleanliness and hygiene onboard.

Before COVID-19, cabin innovation took inspiration from domestic environments, hotels and cars to create familiarity in the interior space.

However, since early 2020 aggressive cleaning and evidenced hygiene has been essential to continue flying, exacting a toll on cabin interiors never intended to withstand these treatments.

As consumers now have heightened expectations of cleanliness and hygiene, new ideas are needed to design the cabin interiors of the future.

Designing for clean

Put simply, in future it will have to be easier for airlines to sanitise cabins while maintaining finishes and ensuring fast aircraft turn-around. Passengers will want the reassurance that their environment is safe and they can easily identify that it is hygienic. Clean will be the catalysing imperative for upcoming design reviews which means some new approaches to aircraft interiors will ultimately be required.

Admittedly, with fewer people flying, revenues at all-time lows and airlines cash flows taking a beating, this is a hard ask right now. As Anthony Harcup, Senior Director at TEAGUE, puts it: “Opinion is very divided on what the market needs because we haven’t settled on a period of normal that is long enough to have identified real commercial trends…I think we will see a much bigger response to cleanliness and sanitation…when revenues start to return and airlines have money, data and passenger opinion.”

Nonetheless, designers and interiors OEMs are already innovating seats and cabin monuments with clean in mind. For example, an open storage structure – big enough for a trolley bag – features underneath the Project AIRTEK lightweight business class seat concept. The consortium behind AIRTEK, JPA Design, Williams Advanced Engineering and SWS Certification Services, says this space is easy to clean and improves cabin airflow.

Another response to COVID-19 concerns is OPERA, a business seat for single-aisle aircraft launched in autumn 2020. Designed by STELIA Aerospace to protect passengers’ space and limit their exposure to other travellers and crew, it features a fully-integrated door and direct aisle access in a reverse herringbone layout with users facing the windows. Passenger contact with the seat in high-touch areas is minimised as it is operated via a smartphone or Bluetooth audio jack.

Emmanuel Regnier, STELIA’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Cabin Interiors, notes: “Globally, we can observe that the COVID-19 outbreak has reinforced the market trends of the last years – increased privacy, independence and distancing…and motivated new ones, such as touchless features and easy-to-clean surfaces. Post-COVID, these will not only be considered as comfort and tech features but as must-haves, required to assure passengers of their safety onboard.”

Making clean easy

Demand for products that are easier to maintain cleanliness and reassure passengers that surfaces are sanitary is also predicted by Jamco America. Their Venture reverse herringbone business class seat, which debuted in 2019, eliminates potential dirt traps to minimise operational costs and in 2021 it unveiled a Venture Pristine solution incorporating surface finishes that inhibit the growth of pathogens.

“Airlines are balancing the need for items like doors and compartments, which are convenient for passengers, against the need to ensure the seat can be effectively cleaned,” says Jeremy Hunter, Senior Sales & Marketing Manager. “We have noticed that airlines are including cleanliness as a desired ‘feature’ similar to past product features for their passengers.”

Pristine comes under Project Blue Sky, Jamco’s initiative to alleviate travellers’ anxiety about cabin cleanliness. In the lavatory, this has included developing a hands-free lavatory door handle and lock, as well as investigating a foot pedal mechanism to lift toilet seats and lids hands-free.

A new design language

However, designing for clean will require more than just new interior hardware. It will necessitate reconsidering the visual design language and reviewing the cabin as a part of the greater travel journey ecosystem. Harcup observes that as people have changed their behaviour to risk assess their environments like never before, so passengers will be looking for visual cues that things have changed in the cabin.

It will be even more complex to implement mechanisms to control human congestion, such as the scramble to retrieve belongings and deplane. “I think the only way to solve those issues would be to have a second look at the entire end-to-end journey so that processes are prioritised over scheduling, which is a really tough call to make,” says Harcup.

A three-year process

Knowing it will take at least three years to develop and certify future cabin products, PriestmanGoode is already pushing ahead with reimagining business and economy travel in terms of personal space, hygiene and a touch-free journey.

The premium cabin in its Pure Skies concept features ‘rooms’ enclosed by full-height curtains, elimination of all but essential seat breaks and use of photochromic and thermochromic inks on surface materials to react to UVC light and heat cleaning and send a message of reassurance of cleanliness to passengers as they board. The economy cabin is zoned with clear dividing screens every other row for greater separation and staggered seating to enhance the sense of personal space. Radically, the seat-back tray is replaced by a clip-on meal tray direct from the trolley.

PriestmanGoode Founding Director, Nigel Goode, acknowledges that the industry may need to design things it has not thought about yet, including new passenger behaviours, which may mean, for example, shielding people more when they are in the aisle rather than the seat.

While the clean design imperative will not be instant, Goode expects it to start appearing in briefs and PriestmanGoode is already working with material and dress cover manufacturers to try to implement some elements of Pure Skies. He notes: “I think we should be doing our utmost to try and alleviate some of this problem for next time.”

Design changes now will protect from future problems

We accept aviation as a vital linchpin in our world, opening up economies and supporting societal advancement. However, picking up where we left off in 2019 is no longer an option. Change, including new approaches to the process of rolling out cabin interiors, must be embraced.

The interiors sector also needs to be part of a bigger conversation about how the cabin fits within a new end-to-end travel journey environment. Coronavirus can be seen as a comparative warning shot across our bows. Aviation will get back on its feet quicker once it accepts the need to solve these problems, not just for this pandemic, but also the inevitable health crises of the future.

Not so long ago the main preoccupation of passenger experience thinkers at airlines was how to get travellers in seats and to keep everyone happy.

That was the old reality, but if any message has emerged from recent trend-spotting reports from organisations such as Euromonitor, Springwise and Trendwatching, consumer awareness and expectations have significantly shifted. Let’s have a closer look at those new expectations.

The brand will be key for airlines

Specifically, customers are predicted to be much more brand conscious regarding those organisations that make positive contributions to the sustainability of our planet and our societies. The need for clean, driven by the pandemic, is here to stay. And the adoption of digital technologies that bridge the physical distance between us will continue to accelerate.

Trends that were just over the horizon not so long ago, are now established fact. Digging into the detail reveals both the need to change quickly and areas of opportunity for the coming year.

The recovery is seen as the chance for a green reset. This is underscored by Euromonitor International’s Top 10 Global Consumer Trends 2021, which advocates a shift from a volume- to a value-driven economy.  “Brands that rebuild a greener and more equitable world could gain not only a competitive advantage but also the necessary social licence, or trust of society, to operate,” it predicts.

Furthermore, this shift is echoed in 5 Forces of Disruption, the 2021 forecast from Re_Set Advisory and Springwise, which highlights that seven in ten consumers intend to make permanent behavioural changes to improve their response to the climate emergency. Quick fixes will not cut it, instead, they must look to make meaningful changes, such as de-carbonisation and elimination of plastics throughout the supply chain. “Sustainability must permeate every aspect of doing business,” state the innovation specialists.

A continued focus on sustainability for airlines

The business opportunities identified in Trendwatching’s 21 Trends for 2021 include transcycling, where brands make use of their waste to enter new markets. Another is carbon labelling, whereby revealing the true (hidden) cost of products will win customer trust and competitive advantage. It cites a pop-up shop launched by Swedish food brand Felix, where items are priced according to their carbon footprint, saying this approach is spreading to restaurants and fashion brands as well.

We all know that ultimately travellers will expect their consumer experiences on the ground to be reflected in the air, so how should the interiors community respond? For some time now SEKISUI KYDEX’s focus has been to ensure that the lifecycle of its products is sustainable and materials are 100% recyclable. As part of the full lifecycle approach, it partners with the Aircraft Interior Recycling Association (AIRA) to implement recycling streams for materials that reach the end of their use.

Talking with Design Director Karyn McAlphin, circular solutions will be the way forward. She goes on to say: “Socially conscious brands will pursue lighter weight alternatives, redesign structures we’ve relied upon for years, and determine how to take things apart at their end of life to upcycle for different purposes. Ultimately, brands viewed as contributing to a cleaner, healthier, more equitable world will gain a competitive advantage.”

Safe to fly initiatives needed across the industry

Reassuring passengers that it is safe to fly by implementing rigorous cleaning regimes, plus investigating antimicrobial surfaces and materials have been key to the interiors sector’s pandemic strategy. What Euromonitor calls safety obsessed (but might be more easily understood as hygiene obsessed) is not just desirable, but as good as mandatory, with customers expecting efficiency and cleanliness.

Definitions of wellness will expand to include mental wellbeing, with Trendwatching spotlighting products and services that seamlessly boost mental and emotional health as an innovation opportunity.  Think about it for a moment. Even before the pandemic, stress has been hardwired into the journey for many passengers. How then should onboard environments and services be developed to alleviate that stress and make travellers better informed and so feel more in control?

A touchless future onboard aircraft

Another aspect of the past year’s need for clean has been going touchless. In our everyday lives, card and mobile payments have dominated the shopping experience when we are able to go outside. While air travel initiatives have ranged from Emirates and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) trialling a digital COVID-19 pass to Jamco and ANA teaming up on a hands-free lavatory door.

Going touchless complements, the third force for disruption – high-speed adoption of digital technologies. Re_Set and Springwise observe that a comprehensive digital strategy is now essential. In response to the pandemic, businesses have been experimenting with everything from virtual showrooms to social shopping that blends e-tailing with social media. They predict that other content-first strategies are likely to emerge such as using digitisation to drive greater personalisation.

The realms of the physical and virtual are no longer distinct separate entities. Consumers now rely on digital tools for daily activities, with Euromonitor noting that consumers, especially younger people, are indifferent as to whether these activities are physical or virtual; they no longer distinguish between the two.

2021 will still be challenging for airlines

2020 has changed the culture around flying. B2B or B2C, customers and passengers are questioning everything we did before. How the passenger experience community rises to these challenges in 2021 will have a far-reaching impact in the years to come. What is clear is that shape of the industry in 2021 is already looking very different from the way we imagined just a year ago.

The global pandemic of 2020 has had a massive impact on all parts of aviation. A new report from Cirium has analysed all flight data from 2020 and compiled it into The Cirium Airline Insights Review 2020.

The main takeaway in commercial aviation is that global passenger traffic is down an estimated 67% compared to 2019 and that this is equal to the levels of travel in 1999. Total flights are also down by 49% to 16.8 million in 2020.

Aircraft still in storage

The main impact for the interiors industry in 2020 has been airlines delaying purchases and aircraft being put into storage. The report states that up to 30% of the global passenger fleet remains in storage.

However, only 10% of the Airbus A320neo are in storage still. This points to airlines wanting to save money by using the more fuel-efficient planes. The return of the 737 Max is also on the horizon and will lead to reduced operating costs.

With the pandemic severely impacting long-haul routes, the Airbus A320 has become the world’s most used aircraft. Cirium tracked a total of 5.49 million flights through 2020 using the narrow-body model.

Larger planes sent to retire

The early retirement of some planes, such as the Boeing 747 and Airbus A380, is also a major trend from 2020. Leading airlines including Qantas and British Airways were among those who took the decision to retire their iconic 747s. At the latter, the 747 had been in service since 1995.

Some of these larger planes may end up as transport cargo instead. Cirium believes that conversion of 66 planes have taken place in 2020 and is expecting more in 2021. These conversions are likely driven by consumers moving to online shopping due to the pandemic.

View the full The Cirium Airline Insights Review 2020 here.

Related articles

COVID-19 is affecting all corners of the aviation industry, including the companies that provide onboard inflight entertainment (IFE). They are being asked to play an increased and changing role in the passenger experience as a result of the pandemic.

It’s a complicated web that includes managing ageing content, replacing the functionality of printed material like magazines and menus, extending lifespans of systems onboard, adding retrofit programmes, and accelerating the arrival of wireless ordering and payment.

We spoke with five industry players — alphabetically, Bluebox, Burrana, Panasonic Avionics, Safran Passenger Innovations and Thales — to learn what airlines are telling them, and how they’re responding.

Airline messages are remarkably consistent across the board

“This is a critical time for airlines who are having to make major adjustments to their businesses,” says Hernan Abbes, Panasonic Avionics’ regional vice president and general manager for the Americas and Oceania regions. “A key part of that is reducing the size of their current operating fleets, particularly widebody aircraft, and that has impacted the levels of linefit and retrofit work we are carrying out.”

As a result, Abbes explains, “Airlines are looking to us to help them through this crisis by offering relief on payments terms, and evolving programs.”

The first reaction across the industry, the IFE providers essentially agreed, was one of uncertainty, which then moved relatively swiftly to a rapid handbraking of capacity to reduce costs, including delaying new aircraft, pushing retrofit work into the future, and in some cases allowing programmes to undergo another design iteration.

Every airline customer is different, though, John Sickler, Safran Passenger Innovations’ vice president for customer and program management says. “At the moment, most of our airline customers are assessing their businesses and doing what is needed to make sure they are as resilient as they can be during this time. We see airlines taking this opportunity to adjust existing and pending fleets to match new route structures and gain efficiencies.”

“For some,” Sickler notes, “this means refocusing priorities, and many are concentrating on their customer experience and making progress on objectives during this time of reduced air traffic. It is definitely not one size fits all.”

Indeed, in the inflight entertainment world as elsewhere, a substantial amount of activity within Asia, where short-haul and regional services use widebody aircraft with seatback systems more regularly than in most other regions, and Europe is leading the way to an initial resumption of flying.

In some cases, this is leading certain airlines to look to extend the lifecycle of older legacy systems, such as the PAVES system that is now part of the Burrana portfolio.

Airlines, says chief executive David Pook, are looking to reduce their exposure to obsolescence and keep legacy systems around longer. In addition to this, however, “we are seeing an uptick in customer enquiries especially for PAVES overhead upgrades, retrofit enquiries for in-seat power — especially from LCCs — and a heightened interest in wireless entertainment.”

As a result, in the context of its new RISE system brand, says Pook, “we are focusing our initial RISE development on single aisle configurations, and on the solutions that solve airline challenges such as time to market, how to streamline efficiencies, reduce cost and weight, add revenue, reduce complexity, provide low cost upgrade paths to remove obsolescence, et cetera.”

Airline priorities are keeping the lights on and maintaining a barebones #PaxEx

Inflight entertainment providers are having to not only keep their own lights on, but to ensure that the screens onboard the aircraft don’t go dark, often with reduced staffing both internally and at the airlines they work with.

Airline priorities are, for the most part, still in emergency mode, with Bluebox chief executive officer Kevin Clark highlighting that the current focus is on “Planning schedules and the operational matters associated with bringing services back, [and] delivering a safe environment for crew and passengers — airlines all need to build passenger confidence to travel.”

“For those with IFE,” Clark says, “it’s about reactivating the existing systems as simply/quickly as possible so that the airlines are confident that they have a solid offering and can move on to focus on the main operational priorities. All have a desire or even requirements to include COVID related messaging in their systems, an explanation of hygiene procedures on board for example. This need to be injected into the active content set at the appropriate points.”

Fundamentally, though, Clark is realistic that IFE suppliers’ main challenge at present is to ensure they occupy what he calls “the appropriate place in the airlines’ attention”. In essence, it’s about ensuring that Bluebox is working with the right staff in the context of furloughs, playing a supporting, and working through integration challenges quickly to get offerings in place on board the aircraft.

For his part, Safran’s Sickler sees two groups of airlines at present: those that are focussing on finances and their core operations, while putting most other projects on ice; and those that have a little extra security, which is certainly focussed on ensuring they operate at the right scale. The latter is also looking to the future and progressing new aircraft programmes so that they can be in a stronger competitive position at the end of the crisis.

Responding to the long haul narrowbody world in a touchless way is key

With capacity dropping abruptly, the arrival of aircraft like the Airbus A321neo, and particularly its longer-range A321LR and A321XLR variants, is certainly welcome in airline planning departments.

“In many cases, older aircraft are being replaced with larger single-aisle aircraft that can now perform longer, more cost-effective missions,” says John Sickler from Safran. “This, in turn, is driving demand for seat back IFE on single-aisle aircraft, as it is the length of flight, not the aircraft type driving this decision.”

Indeed, whether or not we see more seatback screens, the inflight entertainment industry may well be a key part in transforming the passenger experience during the time of COVID-19, as airlines remove elements like printed menus, magazines and duty-free catalogues.

Related articles

Thales’ director of marketing Jerry Thomas explains: “Through ongoing conversations with our airline partners, we have defined the digital products and services that will be most effective to them in the current environment including technologies that reduce touch in the cabin, touchless features and unique services to increase ancillary revenue. An example is that the eReader on the seat-back monitor or a PED is a great alternative to onboard hardcopy magazines. The Thales IFE system also offers a feature that allows passengers to pair their PED with the seat-back screen to act as a remote control reducing direct contact with the monitor.”

This touchless world may even expand further, Thomas suggests, with “services such as targeted advertising and digital shopping to help airlines drive additional ancillary revenue. We are also bringing solutions to limit unnecessary interaction between the crew and passengers through services such as AirFree, which allows passengers to browse and purchase duty-free items from their connected device and then pick up their merchandise upon arrival at the airport.”

The challenge for the inflight entertainment industry, and indeed for the entirety of the airline ecosystem, is to keep attuned to what feels like a constantly changing world, develop solutions to the challenges that arise, and remain flexible in response to what is aviation’s greatest challenge.