Is This The Future Of Commercial Aviation? Cabin Design Innovations

Delta Air Lines is bringing a First Class feeling to Business Class travel with its Delta One Suite. The premium all-suite business class cabin focuses on privacy and comfort with sliding doors and a personal stowage area. The airline’s Airbus A350-900s will debut the new suite this year, and will be retrofitted on its Boeing 777-200 fleet in 2018. 

Cable spaghetti to help power avionics systems could be a thing of the past. Germany’s Diehl Aerospace is developing the Power Line Communication concept that would transmit data through an aircraft’s existing power distribution network, reducing the amount of aircraft wiring, weight and volume. Diehl says the concept will also reduce maintenance and retrofits would be easier.

Although not new to the market, Global Eagle Entertainment’s wireless entertainment Airtime Portal, which recently expanded to cruise ships, lets passengers say goodbye to boredom at 30,000ft. The branded system enables passengers to surf the net, send text messages, access on-demand content and stream live TV using personal electronic devices. 

Airbus has a solution to tackling the amount of trash generated in the cabin. The ReTrolley concept, a start-up project supported by Airbus’s BizLab accelator program, would see cabin crew collect, sort and compress recyclable passenger trash while moving down the aisle. Airbus says the eco-trolley would reduce 30% of total waste volume and free up previous space in the aircraft’s gallery.

Sore derrières are part and parcel of the long-haul flying experience. But Vanema, in collaboration with Boxmark, wants to put an end to the unpleasantness of sitting in one position for long stretches. The lightweight ‘Octaspring’ seat cushion concept uses foam springs that move three-dimensionally to help reduce pressure points, evenly distribute bodyweight and improve seat ergonomics. The technology uses 30% less materials, and the joint-venture claims it would reduce the weight of an economy seat by up to 150g.

Airbus, in collaboration with Recaro and THK, wants to offer on-demand ‘Smart Cabin Configuration’ to airlines. The concept allows cabin crew to reposition seats, add or remove seats during turnaround to help adapt to load factors. 

A lightweight onboard wheelchair designed by the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences promises to improve mobility through the cabin aisle and provide more hygienic lavatory usage with its ‘over toilet functionality.’ The concept is the only device for passengers with reduced mobility that eliminates the need to transfer onto the toilet seat.