If ever there was a study in compromise, it is the interior of a commercial passenger aircraft. Balancing weight, center of gravity, cost, longevity, maintainability, durability and comfort, while you keep the accountants from having a heart attack from the price tag, is perhaps the ultimate balancing act. So how do airlines ultimately decide what their interior will look like?

I will skip past the fascinating process of acquiring an aircraft (whether through leasing or purchasing), which is coveredelsewhere on this website.

It all begins with a vision. Whether that vision is set by a CEO, or by a Marketing Department, or a Product team, depends on the airline. This vision is sometimes broad, often aspirational, and once in a while, whimsical. In any case, it sets the tone for what is to follow.

Once an airline has set a vision, be it for a brand new aircraft type or fleet type, or to revamp an ageing fleet, it then has to work through the often long process of realizing that vision. Some airlines engage the services of external consultants, while others (often the more well-established, larger airlines) take on the task themselves. In all cases they will need to work closely with various stakeholders: the aircraft manufacturer, the cabin interior component suppliers (seating suppliers are usually the most critical to engage) as well as the civil aviation authority in whose jurisdiction the aircraft will be registered and operate under. 

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