JETLINER CABINS is the first comprehensive survey of the commercial-aircraft cabin environment from the late seventies to the turn of the millennium. This book develops and greatly expands on the author's series of articles which appeared in Aircraft Interiors magazine from 2000 to 2002.

Key topics are product branding, the passenger experience, cabin maintenance, and the marketing challenge. There are 50,000 words of text, a detailed index and bibliography, expert comments from more than 40 aviation business specialists, and 350+ illustrations—selected after discussion with manufacturers, suppliers and several dozen airlines worldwide. In view of its breadth of coverage, JETLINER CABINS will stand for many years as the major point of reference in this area of aviation literature.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
October 2003; Hardcover; ISBN: 0-470-85165-1
192 pages, over 350 illustrations, (mostly in colour)
UK£34.95; €52.50; US$65.00

COVER TEXT

One hundred years ago – on 17th December 1903 – five people in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina looked on as two brothers changed the course of history: Wilbur and Orville Wright had achieved humankind’s first powered, sustained and controlled flight.

Since this event, the marvel of flight has become a reality in even the most remote parts of the world, leading to the creation of the mass-transportation systems that are now regarded as an everyday feature of our modern lifestyle.

The design of commercial aircraft interiors today is an art and a science, involving very particular concerns of comfort, space saving and durability. Jetliner Cabins brings together in a single volume the many different elements which combine to create a satisfying environment for scheduled air travel worldwide – designs, functions, materials, construction, safety, maintenance, overall style and passenger well-being. In addition to the main text and comprehensive illustrations, there are expert comments from more than 40 international specialists in the field, bringing a wide range of aviation knowledge to the table.

This book will interest innumerable readers – from manufacturers, airlines and suppliers to travel agents, marketers and salespeople; from airport managers to caterers, designers, engineers and architects; and not least the millions of passengers who travel each year in these special and typically modern surroundings.

COVER STORY

Since Jetliner Cabins was first published in 2003 (the centenary of the Wright brothers' first flight), I have received several requests for more information about the cover picture. Enquiries have included: "It looks a bit like an Airbus aircraft – but which one?"; "Please confirm whether this is a Boeing jet?"; and "Why the 2+1+2 configuration?"

The answer? The computer-simulated picture contains architectural and design elements associated with aircraft produced by both manufacturers. The ingenious wraparound treatment was the brilliant brainchild of Christoph Berg, the director of ACA, which specialises in computer graphics, and whose words of wisdom are quoted in Chapter 15, ‘Upgrades: Refurbishing Aloft’. The aim was to concentrate attention on a generic cabin environment rather than comparing the characteristics of individual aircraft types. Featuring a wide-body twin-aisle aircraft makes it clear that we are dealing with modern jetliners - as opposed to the older aircraft types (which were all single-aisle)

The double-seat units fitted nicely along the sidewalls - but how to handle the spine of the book? One single seat in a row is unusual but not unknown. For example, in the 1980s, Pan Am flew individual centreline seats near the front of its first-class cabins, and Singapore Airlines currently uses a similar configuration for its luxurious SkySuites on its Boeing B747 fleet.

Working from the superlative aviation-grade collections at Lantal Textiles, Monika Luethi, Lantal's director of design (whose valuable comments appear in Chapter 12, ‘The Leather Forecast’), coordinated a group of decorative patterns for the carpet, curtain fabric and seat-cover upholstery. The organic motifs illustrate a number of points covered in those sections of the book that focus on the soft elements of cabin décor schemes. As shown in our picture, the favourite secondary-accent options ranged from eye-catching yellow and ecologically correct green to the classic, winning blue (a topic debated in detail by Lantal and others in Chapter 13, ‘Flying Colours’).