The Importance of Styling and the Use of Materials in Aircraft Interiors

In the not very distant past, interiors were put into the aircraft after everything else had been accommodated. As a corollary, interior designers were called in, if they were called in at all, after everyone else had done his work.

However, the general aviation industry under the stimulation of competition and the example set by other consumer oriented industries, notably the automotive industry, has come to recognize that the passenger is paramount and, since his needs and desires must form the basis of marketing policy, the physical expression of these needs and desires must be the platform on which the airframe design is based. This paper examines the function and organization of an industrial design department; styling as a marketing tool; and the use of materials in aircraft interiors.