BACKGROUND: Cabin research is mostly based on passenger reports. However, it is also important to consider the perceptions of flight attendants as onboard service providers, since they can convey a complementary view shedding light on important aspects related to passenger experience. OBJECTIVE: This study seeks to analyze flight-attendants' perception regarding passengers' inflight activities and experience. METHODS: Twenty-eight flight attendants were interviewed on more than twenty-three inflight activities that were extracted from a brainstorming session. A survey was designed based on these activities and was distributed to flight attendants. RESULTS: Overall, flight attendants perceived the activities 'resting/relaxing', 'sleeping' and 'using the restroom' for comfort as the most important activities to passengers, while activities 'talking to neighbors' and 'thinking and observing' were the least important ones. Interesting was the fact that flight attendants scored satisfaction of some activities higher then passengers. CONCLUSIONS: Flight attendants had a similar idea on importance of activities of passengers, but they valued some activities as more satisfactory.@en

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.@en

In order to investigate differences in comfort and discomfort experiences amongst different regions of the world (America, Asia and Europe), a cross cultural study was performed. A questionnaire was sent to participants out in nine countries (Brazil, Canada, the USA, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands). In total 795 participants completed the questionnaires. All countries score the comfort of a luxurious bed higher than a simple bed, first-class seats higher than economy class and all countries rate the comfort lower when the duration of sitting increases. The study suggests that in the USA and Canada softer beds, hammocks, more luxurious seats and softer pillows are scored as more comfortable compared with the other countries. There are indications that China and Germany prefer a harder mattress than in the other countries. For pillows, the differences between countries are large, which might show that much is influenced by habitude or hesitation to use something new. The Asian countries score the comfort of a brace neck pillow higher, which might be because these participants better realise the benefits better or feel less concerned to wear something that might give the appearance of an orthotic device. Further studies are needed to confirm these suggestions. The study shows that obvious differences are seen in all countries, which makes the construct of comfort internationally comparable. Practitioner summary: In designing and manufacturing globally, it is important to know how different parts of the world experience (dis)comfort. This study did not show large cultural differences amongst nine countries. Some differences emerge regarding pillows, perhaps as differences in sleeping habits play a role. Abbreviations: MANOVA: multivariate analysis of variance; VDA: Vargha and Delaney’s A statistic; USA: United States of America.@en