The ever-increasing number of individuals around the globe who are over-sized for the average airline seat will have a major impact on aircraft interior design. Two separate trends in body types, the larger passenger and the taller passenger, will require that airlines revisit their design approach and focus on people centred innovation to provide solutions.

Obesity, as measured by medical professionals in terms of BMI (Body Mass Index) and the prevalence of taller people are an undeniable part of our future. Trends also show that this very BMI may have a flaw in the future, due to the fact that some people are now growing taller than their ancestors. In some cultures, primarily Asian and South American, there have been dramatic changes that are beginning to be seen by medical professionals.

While there is a lot of discussion around the core reason for these changes, that is not as important to the commercial airline industry as what to do with the changing size and shapes of passengers. Some carriers already have a policy about “obese” passengers, but they are defined by a set of inconsistent factors. One of the more common measurements (and one that got a certain amount of notoriety from actor Kevin Smith while attempting to fly Southwest Airlines) is if a passenger “can comfortably lower the armrest”. I am relatively confident that this will be an issue in years to come.

Airlines and Obese Passengers
Another common policy that airlines follow is to have larger passengers purchase two seats on a flight, or to pay to upgrade their travel to another cabin. As capacity reduction continues to put some pressure on the ability of airlines to deliver these seats on short notice, there will also be a need to identify passengers ahead of the flight.  This has some potential legal and social implications that may be unpalatable to most carriers.

Often lost in this discussion is the comfort of other passengers who are sharing the space with the obese passenger.   There is a potential customer service issue for airlines as other passengers potentially complain about the loss of personal space already at a premium.

There are potential issues around aircraft safety, as passengers changing shape and sizes may cause some to question if some aircraft emergency exits are even accessible to these individuals.

What can airlines do for Super-size Passengers?
What new innovations are available to carriers to deal with this evolving need in all classes of service? There are some changes with so called “sliding seats” that may allow for airlines to offer slight adaptations to seat size. However, these represent safety challenges with the size of the aisle being potentially reduced.

I believe that there are not commercially available economy seats to deal with this issue, as airlines do not fell that they need or want to invest in this area of development. I believe that a more proactive approach is called for, and developing adjustable seating or even select seating that is truly wider will offer both passengers and airlines a better solution to addressing this emerging “mega-trend”.

At the same time, there are premium seating solutions in forward cabins that do make flying more comfortable for people of all sizes. However, these may be economically unfeasible for many passengers.  In this case, I do see a day where additional potential legal challenges may be faced by air carriers in places like the USA by an obese person who may claim that their size is due to a disability and is therefore protected by law. Carriers will need to proactively examine the potential range of solutions that could be available.

Airlines and the Taller Passenger
In a completely separate issue, there is obviously better news for taller passengers and travel on some airlines.  Some airlines have a gate control policy that allows them to “gate control” the seats with more legroom for passengers they feel could benefit from the additional space.

There are also a number of carriers offering “extra legroom” or “premium seats” in the economy cabin. That said, some carriers also charge for these seats, which some taller passengers may feel is unfair. In addition, with the increase in Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) over the last decade, there has also been ever so slight erosion in seat pitch (the distance between one row and the next). This presents the taller passenger with comfort challenges, but may give some carriers an advantage with this segment of the traveling public.

What can airlines do for taller passengers?
For this particular trend, most carriers have a product that is already available in their economy class, including on some smaller regional jet services. Overall, while there may be an increase in demand for more legroom in economy class, I do not foresee airline economics allowing for what American Airlines used to refer to as “More Room throughout Coach”- a product that offered the entire cabin more space.

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If you are you interested in knowing more about this subject, here are a few links that talk about the core of the issue and offer additional insight on the causes and social impacts in a broader sense:

Inside Government Workshop on Obesity
http://www.insidegovernment.co.uk/health/obesity/index.php

US National Institute (NIH) of Health on Obesity
http://health.nih.gov/topic/Obesity

(From Left to Right) Carter Stewart, Tim Clark, Ben Bettel, Bob Lange (Airbus)

I was honoured to be on the opening day media panel of Hamburg Aircraft Interiors, and humbled to be in the prescene of some industry greats whom I admire.   In particular were Bob Lange (Head of Aircraft Interiors- Airbus) and Tim Clarke (CEO of Emirates).    I enjoyed sharing the stage with these gentlemen, but also confess that I walked away richer from the discussion, insights, and questions that these jouneryman aviation experts shared.

Unfortunately, Reza Soltanian (Regent Aerospace)  was  not able to make the conference due to the ongoing travel chaos, and was trapped in the States.    

The theme of the Panel was “Preparing for the Upturn” and the key question for all of us is- if we can see a bit of recovery coming what do we think that airlines and suppliers will be keen to focus on, and more importantly spend money on.

From my perspective there are really several key themes, which as associated to the future passenger trends that we have identified in our people-centred design and scenario planning research:

- Harmonising Fleet LOPAs and Experience among the alliances- so that you can offer a truly seamless product.

- The Up and Coming Passenger: Digital Natives take to the skies.  What will their needs and wants be and can we as in indsustry address them? 

- The Rapidly Ageing Population and Air Travel:   How will the largest segment of the human population in history over the age of 65 impact air travel?    http://bit.ly/b8zWVb

- The “Supersize Passenger”:  How can the industry meet the coming challenges from growing obesity rates and a general increase in passenger height?  http://bit.ly/bHQCHk

- What about ultra long haul air travel?   http://bit.ly/bQL7W4

Bob Lange received a number of questions regarding the new LH Airbus deliver that is happening tommorow, and also about his collaboration with Tim and The Emirates Team over the years to deliver their new product.

Tim Clark was asked a number of questions about the upturn and product sustainability.   While he was keen to point out that he was not there to promote Emirates he was wanting to make the point that while load factors are incrasing steadily, there is still a fine balance between the premium cabins while at the same time focusing on the “main deck” product (Y).   

It seemed that the question that the press was most interested in was the idea of premium economy, where is it’s brand position in the eye of the customer and what is the future of the F cabin.   One of the points I would have loved to have spoken on was the new F offering from British Airways.  Their labour relations and ash cloud issues aside, their new offering is truly interesting and breaks the mold for herrigbone configurations in a number of key ways- including more shoulder width during the recline.    I am really impressed by this collaboration between B/E Aerospace ( http://bit.ly/cgiX4t ) Tangerine ( http://bit.ly/c4Y0gV ), and British Aiways.

For my own experience and perspective I think that F is not quite dead yet, and all the other panelist stopped short of really addressing the issue of F (short of Tim who did mention the new showers in the A380).

For my part I spoke briefly about what people like Air New Zealand and Altitude Interiors are doing with the new Skycouch product, and how this product could be seen to be further blurring the difference between the economy and premium economy cabins.   http://bit.ly/dBcyOh

Another innovation product that is on show here this year is the Molton Labe Designs “sliding seat”, which I am very keen to go see in person.    Effectively the prototype allows the carrier to temporarily widen the aisle by “sliding” the aisle seats in on themselves.    A very interesting proposition, and feed quite nicely into the issues of accomodating both an aging traveller, as well as even the “supersize” traveller.   It truly interests me from an innovation perspective.

That brings me to anothe point that Tim made in the discussion.   While I maintained that these mega-trends were coming- he was keen to point out that carriers are often the drivers of these innovations.   I do have to concende that Emirates has driven some great things in their time, and it is a perfectly fair comment!   Bob then pointed out that you only have to look at the growth of #HAM10 over the last few years to see that there is a lot of innovation out there.

In talking before the discussion with Bob Lange from Airbus, I was telling him that I was about to sample the new AF A380 product i a months time.  He said in that if I have an opportunity in particular Y LOPA, the seat is 1.5 inches wider than the average seat.    He indicated that some people may dismiss this, but was keen to point out that “next time I am in a seat, try taking your laptop or a book and placing it between you and the armrest.”    I look forward to experiencing this for myself shortly.

Overall, it was a great experience and I will post some picstures from the show over the next few days.    I hope that by doing so, I can share as much of the show experience with those of you who were not able to make it- or are just interested in what we do.