Cabin comfort and connectivity
Technology improves productivity and relaxation on long trips.
By Shannon Forrest
Contributing Writer
The only thing which is constant in aviation is change. Technology gets better every year, and the industry benefits from improvements in aircraft performance. Avionics and powerplants are most often talked about, and that’s understandable given that those components are highly visible and pilot-centric.
Cabin improvements that are related to ergonomics, and therefore outside of pilot interaction, are often overlooked.
Plus, it’s easy to get excited about the latest touchscreen multifunction display (MFD) in the cockpit, which anticipates a pilot’s need to load the RNAV approach, programs all the frequencies, and provides 3-D terrain guidance down to minimums.
The fact that the owner just upgraded his seat to one with an eco-friendly sustainable fabric and which offers lumbar support for his sciatica-plagued lower back doesn’t garner the same sense of awe.
Nonetheless, there’s a list of desirable features that represent the latest and greatest when it comes to cabin comfort and connectivity.
From the eye of a designer, the goal is to make the cabin productive, restful, and entertaining.
There’s a wide disparity in available space between a Cessna Citation and a Boeing BBJ, but the same rules apply irrespective of the size of the airframe.
Right now, the most sought-after features of the cabin are single-point control systems, human physiology enhancements, adaptive modular seating, dynamic lighting, immersive entertainment, self-monitoring diagnostics, and continuous high-speed connectivity.
Cabin management systems
The ubiquitous term for a single-point control unit is “cabin management system” (CMS). Prior to the advent of the CMS, controlling temperature, entertainment, phone, and audio meant having to operate a hodgepodge of buttons, knobs, and rheostats placed all over the cabin.
The traditional “owner’s chair” had always been the right front seat, and, typically, that’s where most controls would be installed. But even that had some limitations. There was a time when a passenger had to get up out of the seat and put a video cassette into a player to watch a movie.
Today’s CMSs still have hard-wired buttons for control, but analog inputs have been replaced by digital displays. For instance, Collins’s signature product is known as Venue, and one of its prominent features is the graphical user interface (GUI), which uses an intuitive touchscreen to control cabin temperature, lighting, and entertainment options.
The Venue CabinCommand app allows the controls to be transferred to a personal electronic device (PED). Best of all, it’s wireless, so everything can be done right from the comfort of one’s seat.
Collins touts that the Venue senses new hardware and automatically configures software so that your system is always optimized.
Honeywell’s CMS offering is Ovation Select, which also allows seamless integration of PEDs. A true CMS serves as a master control computer for all passenger comfort items, and the best ones have 2 important features – compatibility and scalability.
Being compatible means the system is still capable of supporting devices that are less than state-of-the-art or those that use input sources other than wireless transmission. It does so through an auxiliary panel option that incorporates HDMI, USB, VGA, RCA, and RJ45 jacks.
These hard-wired connection options ensure that whatever device is brought on board, it can interact with the aircraft. Scalability, meanwhile, ensures that a CMS can integrate with newer technology, so that the system is not obsolete when new products or services enter the marketplace.
Cabin comfort
Human physiological enhancements to the cabin work by minimizing physical and psychological discomfort, the most obvious sources of which are sound and vibration.
While the installation of insulation and sound-absorbing materials in the cabin are common solutions, some OEMs, such as Embraer, have taken it a step further by incorporating these variables into engineering the aircraft. The Phenom 300E, for example, boasts a 14% reduction in loudness as a function of overall design features.
And the Praetor 500/600 series also have multiple noise-reducing features.
Repositioning noisy components (air conditioning and hydraulics) away from the cabin, fully enclosing the landing gear, and employing engine vibration reduction devices are strategies employed by Embraer on its line of business jets.
Another unique passenger cabin comfort component of the Praetor is active turbulence reduction.
This is made possible by a fly-by-wire digital control methodology. The system senses and adjusts the flight control surfaces 100 times a second.
The result is that it dampens and mitigates turbulence immediately once it’s detected. This makes for a smoother ride that wouldn’t be possible if the aircraft used traditional flight control systems.
The Gulfstream G700 incorporates advanced soundproofing to achieve an average cabin noise level of 51 decibels, but it also achieves an important comfort parameter that is felt rather than heard.
While cruising at FL410, the cabin altitude of the aircraft remains at a meager 2840 ft. Cabin altitude plays the biggest role in ease of breathing, but cabin air quality is also a factor.
Since the Covid-19 outbreak, passengers have been concerned about the ability of aircraft to filter air and remove biological hazards.
Viruses and bacteria seem the most obvious threat to passengers, but pilots know that contaminated air can also be the result of toxic byproducts of fuel, oil, and hydraulic fluids vaporizing within the air conditioning system.
Bombardier Pur Air is available on the Global line. It is a cabin air system that uses an advanced HEPA filter to remove up to 99.99% of contaminants. In addition to viruses and bacteria, the system is effective at removing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), odors, and gases.
However, the most advanced technology when it comes to cabin purification is a plasma ionization system. Gulfstream was the first OEM to install an ionizer in its cabins. It works by emitting ions that attack and destroy harmful particle sin the air.
Ionizers work in combination with HEPA filters. These systems work behind the scenes, and, although passengers may not feel direct results, there’s psychological comfort in knowing it’s there.
Cabin layout
Cabin seating used to be an afterthought, but is now a central element in aircraft design. For decades, private aircraft seats were nearly identical in style and function, and the traditional cover was plush leather.
Now there’s a host of alternative materials available – both for the structure and the finish – and the trend is comfortable, configurable, and adaptable seating.
As aircraft range has expanded, so has the need for ergonomically beneficial seats. Lumbar and neck support, as well as sufficient legroom and headroom, rank highest among passenger needs. At the pinnacle of interior design is the Bombardier Nuage seating collection, which is exclusive to the Global series and Challenger 3500.
According to Bombardier, the seat is the most meaningful change in function and design in business aircraft seating in over 30 years.
The Nuage is a high-quality office chair adapted to flight. The heart of the chair is a track-and-swivel system that enables smooth silent motion.
A patented tilt link system pivots the seat backwards simultaneously as the seat pan drops, which reduces strain on the lower back and legs.
The knees remain stationary and articulate naturally. In combination with a tilting headrest, the experience is described as “cradling comfort.” There’s a family of Nuage products (like a divan and chaise) to suit every owner.
Coping with jetlag
Jetlag and circadian disruption has always been a consequence of air travel. Until recently, there’s been no effort to focus on the cabin environment itself as a cause of – and solution to – the problem.
The science is well known that lighting types, colors, and patterns affect the suprachiasmatic nucleus (located behind the optic nerve), which affects melatonin production and, in turn, promotes or disrupts sleep cycles.
The Collins Hypergamut Lighting System uses colored LEDs to deliver a wavelength associated with a time in the circadian spectrum, which in turn can influence whether the body wants to sleep or remain awake. Hypergamut takes real-time flight data and uses it to create and implement an ideal lighting scenario for each phase of flight.
This is done behind the scenes without any crew input.
For example, during the boarding process, it can remove a blue wavelength associated with daytime alertness.
This promotes sleepiness and induces relaxation during flight. During landing, the blue wavelength is reintroduced, promoting wakefulness.
As these wavelengths are not consciously detectable to a human, the appearance or brightness level of the cabin remains the same during the changes.
The Bombardier version of dynamic lighting is the Soleil lighting system. It can adjust cabin lighting automatically to stimulate or suppress melatonin. The system can also be operated in custom mode should passengers want an extended rest or work period outside of their normal circadian rhythm.
If circadian disruptions are not a concern, 24 presets are available for setting cabin mood or ambiance. On the Global 7500 and 8000, Soleil can be synchronized with the sound system, allowing it to change and pulse with the beat of the music.
Inflight entertainment
Immersive entertainment elements consist of high-resolution OLED displays with theater-quality acoustics delivered at the individual seat level. Curved displays have become the norm in premium installations, with a multitude of options available that include live streaming current programming and on-demand movies and television shows.
The Collins Tailwind 500 option provides access to 1000 channels of entertainment and music, and supports standard and HD resolutions. Tailwind is geared toward medium to large airframes, and can be integrated with several different types of CMS.
Delivering uninterrupted entertainment and ensuring continuous productivity means being connected to the World Wide Web, and this is typically done using a space-based system. Traditionally, this has been accomplished with Ka- or Ku-band satellite service providers like Viasat.
Viasat acquired its competitor Inmarsat in May 2023, which made it a leading provider of L- and S-band service as well. SpaceX is the most recent space-based connectivity entry into business aviation, offering several options for connectivity marketed under the Starlink brand.
There’s a big difference in logistics between a Viasat product and Starlink. Rather than using a higher orbiting geostationary satellite, Starlink uses low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites that move continuously.
The advantage of LEO satellites is shorter latency. The distance between the satellite and receiver is shorter than with a high-earth-orbit satellite, so, in theory, the signal travels back and forth faster. The disadvantage of a LEO satellite is that, in order to maintain continuous and uninterrupted coverage, you need a lot more satellites.
Starlink offers subscription packages that range from $2000 per month for 20 Gb of data to unlimited data packages at $10,000 per month – installation costs not included. Users describe the Starlink system as very successful and identical to the product the company offers for home use.
Interestingly, even general aviation users are getting in on Starlink’s success by using Starlink Mini receivers in single- and twin-engine piston-powered aircraft. These portable installations were originally designed for RVs, campers, and boats. They’re powered by a battery pack and are advertised as being effective to 500 kts.
Self-monitoring diagnostics have become almost standard in any modernized aircraft system. From a comfort perspective, this means that the crew is alerted to any potential problem with the CMS, entertainment, or connectivity features, so the problem can be addressed before the passengers experience a failure mode.
While artificial intelligence is just starting to make an appearance in the cabin, we can expect to see it increase in the future. At some point, the CMS will know who’s on board, what they like to watch, when they sleep, what temperature they like the cabin, and the personalized settings they use to recline the chair or divan.
And that’s fine – as long as the comfort factor also includes an actual human being up front doing the flying.
Shannon Forrest is a current line pilot, CRM facilitator, and aviation safety consultant. He has more than 15,000 hrs TT and holds a degree in behavioral psychology.