Simple Flying’s latest podcast is live and ready for you to enjoy. To take a break from the constant barrage of coronavirus news, we decided to invite along a very special guest to talk about something completely different.For this special episode, I welcomed our guest Dr. Joe Leader, CEO of the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX), one of the largest international airline associations in the world. APEX exists to advance the airline passenger experience, and Joe is considered to be one of the foremost authorities on PaxEx in the world today.During the podcast, we covered a lot of ground. Our topics of conversation included:

  • What’s still going wrong in the cabin experience? We chat about the densification of cabins, what people really want from their inflight experience and the difference between low cost and value for money.
  • What’s going very right and where are the big PaxEx wins? Joe helps me summarise what airlines are doing well, where we’re heading from here and some hope for the pain of the middle seat passenger.
  • Where are we heading in the future in terms of cabin designs? We talk through some of the product submissions for the Crystal Cabin awards and how realistic they really are.
  • What do the next 10 years hold for passenger experience? For a passenger stepping onto a plane ten years from now, what can we expect to find?

As it can be difficult to visualize what we’re talking about with some of these new products, I’ve included some images below to accompany the podcast.

The Butterfly Seat. Photo: Paperclip Design via APEX
TU Delft_Collapsible Beds
The collapsible bed could give passengers a lie flat experience in economy. Photo: TU Delft
The Skynest from Air New Zealand could be a gamechanger for long haul flying. Photo: Air New Zealand
Collins Zero-G flight attendant seat
The Zero G flight attendant seat. Photo: Collins
Adient_Space for all
Adient's Space for All allows for a variety of configurations, including this 'double bed' concept. Photo: Adient

The Tweet below showcases the cargo bay seating and sleeping area known as Earthbay.

Get On board edible trays
Edible meal trays sound like a great concept, but come with some inherent issues. Photo: PriestmanGoode

 

Diehl_Greywater_Reuse_Unit
Diehl's greywater recycling system could reduce the amount of water planes need to carry. Photo: Diehl

A big thanks to Joe for providing this incredible insight and a lively discussion on the passenger experience. We’ll be returning to our normal format next week and will have Tom back on the show, ready to bring you bitesize updates to all the latest news.

Listen to episode 8 now

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