The biggest dilemma in air travel is how to spend those hours in the air in a productive or useful manner. The choices used to be limited to inflight movies, sleep, or avoiding your chatty neighbor’s eye, but that is changing. All kinds of new advances in airplane technology have made it possible for people to plug in their mobile devices, uncurl their earphones and vanish into their favorite worlds of music, film and blogging. Aircraft interior products like monitors and USB chargers are transforming travel time, making it possible to work or catch up on the latest movies and tv shows, or to just plug into your favorite music and chill.
On board entertainment has a whole new look
Anyone who’s read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy remembers that unforgettable scene when a plane full of passengers, who are apparently sleeping peacefully, strapped into their seats, wake up screaming as they are force fed hot beverages by robotic attendants. Douglas Adams is no more with us, unfortunately, but his humor is still alive. And it reveals a terrible truth about airline travel: the boredom.
But with the availability of online access on board, and additional facilities like ife monitors and USB chargers at every seat, people can connect up their mobile devices and vanish into their own private worlds of work or entertainment. New aircraft interior products open up worlds of productivity and entertainment. Instead of staring out of the window at an endless dawn or sunset, you could be polishing up that conference paper or presentation. Or you could catch up on your favorite TV series, creating your own GOT or Inspector Lewis marathon.
Mobile devices are the new carry on essentials
Travel styles vary by individuals and even by how a particular person is feeling on a given day. Onboard options are limited, by both space and safety considerations. The top choices are watching movies, as do 41% of airline passengers, reading (21% of airline passengers) and sleeping (17%). In seat power chargers and internet connectivity make it possible for passengers to bring their work and entertainment with them.
Best of all, it dispels that feeling of being disconnected, which accounts for a major part of the ennui of air travel. In fact, by 2013, 37% of respondents in TripAdvisor’s Air Travel Survey considered a mobile device like an iPad or tablet to be an essential carry on item. And another 25% of respondents on the same survey said that the availability of onboard wifi would influence their choice of airline.
Global aircraft interiors are being transformed as the new technology becomes more popular. In flight entertainment systems manufacturers are putting more choices in the hands of travelers, with aircraft interior products like aircraft display systems and USB chargers. Travelers can pick their own entertainment. They can even log into work remotely and spend their time productively. Connectivity is restoring individuality and purpose to inflight time. We like to think Adams would have approved.
