Redesign of aircraft baby bassinet for improved flight experience

Abstract

Travelling by air has seen a boom in the past decades due to social, demographic and economic factors (Adepalli, 2018). An increasing trend is observed among young parents travelling with their babies facilitated by low travel costs (Yeoman, 2012). However, babies below 2 years are not considered as regular passengers and airlines make babies fly on their parents/guardians lap with no or meagre fees (EASA, 2019). Most airlines provide baby bassinet to help parents manage their journey. The current Belgraver bassinet provides a temporary place at an economy class bulkhead wall for babies below 6 months to sleep and relax during the flight journey (KLM, 2021). However, this design is aged and needs to be updated to meet the user needs and desires. In addition, since this product is integrated into the aircraft, it needs to meet aviation safety regulations like 16G test, burn test and strength test (Belgraver, 2021).
An abundance of research is carried out to understand adult passengers' physical, psychological, and social comfort, reflecting the evolution of passenger seats and amenities (Anjani, 2021). However, this is sparse in the case of infants (0-2 years) and their parents who experience internal and external stress throughout the journey (Harris, 2014). The main opportunity of this master thesis is to redesign the baby bassinet to meet the identified needs of parents, babies and flight attendants in the economy class cabin environment, which is implemented in the market in 3 years. In this project, the current bassinet interaction insights of babies and parents were obtained by interviewing 2 parents and conducting an online focus group with 14 parents. Further, 4 flight attendants and a flight manager from KLM were interviewed to understand their needs and requirements. The key challenges were developed by grouping the drawbacks of the Belgraver bassinet. They are comfortable, ease of handling and hygiene. The solution Kinder fly is a versatile product with two orientations, to accommodate all the babies under 2 years. Each sub-system, frame, basket and mattress, is developed through iterative cycles: synthesis – simulation – evaluation – decision (Roozenburg et al., 1995). The concept development results were evaluated with 3 parents in aircraft environment, in which the Inclusivity of bigger babies was highly appreciated. The challenges of comfort and ease of handling were given priority, and significant improvement in these areas are obtained. However, hygiene issues need to be tackled in the future. In conclusion, the concept, Kinder Fly entertains the baby and parent to have a stress free, relaxed and comfortable flight experience.