Aircraft Interior Design and Satisfaction for Different Activities: A New Approach Toward Understanding Passenger Experience

Among airlines and aircraft manufacturers there is much attention for passenger experience. However, there is not much literature on how the activities of passengers can be supported by the aircraft interior. The current study focuses on the need finding and requirements analysis of flight passengers. Twenty-three activities were defined based on retrospective interviews and brainstorming sessions. Respondents were asked to rate their overall perception related to the importance of each of those 23 activities on a Linkert scale, from "not at all important" to "extremely important". On a separate question they were also asked to rate their overall satisfaction by each of the same activities, ranging from "not at all satisfactory" to "extremely satisfactory". These scales were assessed for those who travel alone, together or within groups, and those who travel with kids under six years. Five of the most common cabin configurations for long haul flights were also presented to respondents, and based on their choices, seat choice behavior of each passenger type in each row was analyzed. The results show that resting and relaxing, using the restroom and sleeping were the most important activities to all passengers, while talking to neighbors and other group mates, as well as playing or working with cellphones were the least important activities. In addition, passengers' satisfaction while watching in-flight movies, thinking and observing as well as checking real-time flight status were the most satisfactory among other activities. Sleeping and in-/egress of the seat were the least satisfactory activities. Also, activities such as "taking care of family" are the least satisfactory in the context of long haul flight for group travelers. Group travelers' satisfaction rate by "Interacting with flight attendants" was also not the same as that of other travelers. Seat preferences in each configuration is very similar. individual and couple travelers are similar in preferring window and window-aisle seats, while for group travelers seating together is the first priority over seating next to a window.