Airbus and Boeing passenger experience design
www.factorydesign.co.uk
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Aircraft cabin interior design, seating, lavatories, galleys, colour, trim and finish for all classes, integrating IFE and helping airlines - such as British Airways, Etihad Airways, Jet2.com, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic - improve the passenger experience design of travelling with their airline and communicating their brand proposition in three dimensions.

Integrated IFE in airplane cabin interiors

Designed by Factorydesign, Aura, the new integrated IFE system from Intelligent Avionics is different. Aura is flexible, light and powerful, providing big processor power and storage in each seat without the need for the heavy servers that come with conventional IFE systems. With screen availability at 99.99% - that means only one hour of screen down time in every ten thousand - plus a 5 year exchange warranty and lower ownership costs, even the business model is being set up to challenge convention.

Short haul aircraft seat design

The award-winning, Superlight Ultra seats from Acro Aircraft Seating is different. Evolving from the success of Superlight within the no-frills sector, Ultra is lighter, with more legroom, fewer parts and easier maintenance than traditional economy class seats. Ultra is a response to market demands that combines the simplicity and robustness associated with Acro seats and added features to give passengers more features and a greater sense of comfort and elegance to match the actual enhanced comfort that results from key innovations. Designed by Factorydesign as budget airline seating, low cost carrier aircraft seating, Superlight represents a change in approach to seating for short haul carriers, not evolving the convention in seating, but starting from scratch, approaching the problem from a different perspective, and configured to benefit the passenger and airline.

Transport design philosophy and airline brand communication for competitive advantage.

Transport design strategy tackles the question "What’s the point of difference..?"
Differentiation, the unique selling proposition, that point of difference, making one brand stand out against competition, drawing passengers towards one product and away from others by making that product better and different, communicating the difference effectively and maintaining it through the consistent application of airline brand values across all aspects of the airline.

From big airline to small there are armies of marketing and product teams who spend their lives striving to make their product special, and different… well, most of them. Distinguishing product from the competition lies at the heart of every marketing endeavour.

Sounds simple really, doesn’t it… listen to passengers, keep up with trends, make the passengers feel special and innovate. Innovate to identify new products, new configurations, new services and then apply that innovation thoughtfully and effectively. The clever airlines employ design companies to explore these points of difference, to create a cohesive, clear and consistent brand message and connect with passengers visually, emotionally and physically, because successful product differentiation allows a brand to have a bigger voice, to be recognisable, to be attractive, to be more appealing to potential customers than the competition.

We are all passengers, so it’s not so difficult to understand. When we decide to travel from Airport A to Airport B, we are unlikely to be presented with only one airline to chose from. So the point of difference, I mean the reason for difference, is… er, the point of difference..! It may be just that one thing, “I like their food, lounge, staff…” whatever, fill in the gap, or it may be the whole package, or it may be a well-managed loyalty programme, but on an on-going basis it will certainly not be the price. Being the cheapest is not a sustainable business model. So it’s simple really, make your airline and your product different so customers can find it and buy only from you, and make your product better, add value don’t take it away, so they keep coming back.

Inspirational product design and aviation design innovation

Are we heading for a green future..?
Align this belief then, that different is better, with the stated determination of the two main aircraft manufacturers to optimise their supply chain and minimise manufacturing complexity. In other words, to sell the same product over and over again, or to put it another way, to limit customisation.

Of course, as a business strategy and even as a transport design strategy this makes perfect sense. As an "academic on paper exercise" in the classroom, focusing on supply chain efficiencies and maximising the productivity of the production line is an entirely logical strategy and it is not my place to criticise this approach. Yet this is an inward facing strategy, born to suit the manufacturer and not their customers, at least not those customers who strive to add value to their product offer.

So, the preferred business strategies of manufacturer and airline are contradictory. On one hand you have the perfectly sound business approach to standardise, while on the other, you have the, again perfectly rational, - actually, essential - business approach to differentiate. If we believe the forecasters, then air travel is set to double every 15 years and forever increase. The aviation industry will only continue expanding, so the relevance of these two opposing business strategies will increase. Our friends the manufacturers will only want to become more efficient and more standard in an effort to be more productive, and the airlines will have to continue to seek out the point of difference in pursuit of competitive advantage.

So will this lead us towards even greater battles between the two sectors of the aviation industry or is there an alternative approach? Over the last decade green has become the magic colour. Sustainable products and practices are more prevalent than ever and society’s awareness of environmental issues is higher than ever, however, I wonder if another version of green may provide business opportunities, to airlines in particular...

Rather than take a fully furnished, increasingly standard aircraft full of compromises, lovely I'm sure, but not quite what is wanted, why not take green aircraft and fit them out with whatever carefully designed and innovative products are determined to be best for the brand and the particular target customer?
 

Qualified cabin BFE suppliers and aviation design innovation

There is an effective and growing network of buyer furnished equipment BFE suppliers to support this retro rather than line fit approach, a choice currently constrained by ‘catalogues’, that will be available to fit out aircraft with aviation design innovation. The constraints then are only those that relate to a specific airline. Manufacturers can concentrate on making airframes more efficiently, faster, more profitably and with super streamlined supply chains, and avoiding the complication of managing the various and differing demands of their customers.

Airline lavatories and airline galleys for airline brand communication

The airline’s opportunity to innovate becomes unconstrained – imagine a colour palette choice of more than white and grey, lavatories that would grace a premier hotel, galleys that are no longer just inside the entrance, cabin interiors that reflect and communicate the brand, happy passengers, happy manufacturers and happy airlines. There… solved.!