Smart Cabin Design Concept for Regional Aircraft: Challenges, Future Aspects & Requirements

ABSTRACT New technologies are increasingly being implemented in people’s daily lives and with the growth of smart devices around the globe, the users’ needs and demands have changed in favor of more technological cities, cars, houses, and airplanes. Therefore, it is important to define the stakeholder’s needs and requirements to understand which technologies, smart or not, can be implemented on the cabin to support or even fulfill stakeholder needs. Consequently, those technologies enhance airplane operation and increase product competitiveness for airlines. This paper is the first of a two-part series where design thinking tools are applied to establish high-level requirements based on the concept of a “Smart Cabin” for regional airplanes from 60 to 120 seats. To achieve this goal, a series of methods such as stakeholders’ studies, personas creation and user journey methods are used. The Smart Cabin concept aims to enhance the passenger experience by granting a new level of cabin comfort, customization and connectivity that allows the reduction of airplane time on ground because of the real-time monitoring of airplane cabin components that enables the prediction of maintenance procedures, creates new profits and revenues opportunities for services, provides a more sustainable airplane operation and derived services, and creates new business opportunities for all companies that integrate regional aviation ecosystem.