airline passenger
volume 6, edition 2 | march - april 2016
Seats That Fly An in-depth tour of Recaro’s headquarters and seat factory kid class
promotional class
quiet zone
light lounge
social class
Best in Class
interaction zone
cinema class
These cabin concepts will lure you out of your comfort zone, in a good way
official publication of the airline passenger experience association
click class
SPINE COLOUR - NO IMAGE OR TEXT PAST THIS POINT
GLOBAL AIRCONNECT Antenna System GEE's next gen antenna for its AIRCONNECT connectivity solution utilizes cutting edge design features including unparalleled 3-axis satellite pointing mechanism, proven mechanical micro-horn precision and unique oval shape for aerodynamics and reduced drag. The new antenna weighs only 90 lbs and will be available for installation June, 2016.
Revolutionary Design Unique 3-axis precision pointing mechanism making it the first to provide truly global coverage from a single antenna.
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Learn how GEE enhances your inflight experience at GEEmedia.com
Optimal Performance Mechanical micro-horn technology has superior electromagnetic characteristics that result in the highest levels of performance.
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The catalyst for advancing aviation With our superior 2Ku technology running on the most powerful global network, Gogo will help you get the most out of inflight connectivity. Leveraging 20+ years of combined experience connecting commercial and business aircraft, our innovative products are unlocking new opportunities for our partners to delight their customers and empower their crews.
Stop by booth 3B30 at AIX to find out more. www.gogoair.com/aix
Š2016 Gogo LLC. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Ad Index
apex experience
Advertiser’s Directory
Visit us at apex.aero
volume 6, edition 2 march - april 2016
A Loot at Media www.alookat.com > See page 50
Deutsche Welle www.dw.de > See page 129
INSYS www.insys-tec.de > See page 100
Rockwell Collins www.rockwellcollins.com > See page 23
Airborne Interactive Ltd www.airborne.aero > See page 61
digEcor www.digecor.com > See page 39
Skycast Solutions www.skycastsolutions.com > See page 120
Airbus www.airbus.com > See insert after page 66
Donica www.donica.cn > See page 103
Jaguar Distribution Corporation www.jaguardc.com > See insert after page 34
Astronics Armstrong Aerospace www.astronics.com > See page 58
Emphasis Video Entertainment Limited www.emphasis-video.net > See page 129
Astronics Corporation www.astronics.com > See pages 12 and 114
Entertainment In Motion www.skyfilms.com > See page 141
Avid Airlines Products www.avidproducts.com > See page 36
Eros Inflight Media Limited www.erosnow.com > See page 152
Axinom www.axinom.aero > See page 31
General Dynamics www.gd-ots.com > See page 81
BBC Global News Ltd. www.bbc.com > See page 149
Geven www.geven.com > See page 28
B/E Aerospace www.beaerospace.com > See page 25
Global Eagle Entertainment www.globaleagleent.com > See page 4
Betria Interactive LLC www.flightpath3d.com > See page 43
Gogo LLC www.gogoair.com > See page 8
Bluebox Avionics www.blueboxavionics.com > See page 26
GuestLogix Inc www.guestlogix.com > See page 113
Bose Corporation www.bose.com > See page 95
HBO www.hboinflight.com > See page 146
Carlisle Interconnect Technologies www.carlisleit.com > See page 15
Inflight Peripherals Ltd. www.ifpl.com > See page 83
Dawson Media Direct www.dawsonmd.com See bellyband Deutsche Telekom www.telekom.com > See page 16
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volume 6, edition 2
Inflight Direct www.inflightdirect.com > See page 73 IMG Worldwide www.img.com > See pages 47 and 117
Kid Systeme GmbH www.kid-systeme.com > See page 88 Long Prosper Enterprise Company Limited www.longprosper.com > See page 19 LSG Sky Chefs www.lsgskychefs.com > See page 48 Lufthansa Systems www.lhsytems.com > See page 65 Lumexis Corporation www.lumexis.com > See page 21 NBC Universal Media, LLC www.nbcuni.com > See page 139 Panasonic Avionics Corporation www.panasonic.aero > See page 156 Paramount Pictures www.paramount.com > See page 2 Pascall Electronics www.pascall.co.uk > See page 78 Penny Black Media www.pennyblackmedia.com > See page 150 Phitek Systems Limited www.phitek.com > See page 54 Recaro Aircraft Seating www.recaro.com > See page 11
Skyline IFE Limited www.skyline-ife.com > See page 144 Sony Pictures Releasing Corporation www.sonypicturesinflight.com > See page 135 Soundchip www.soundchip.ch > See page 6 Spafax www.spafax.com > See page 91 Stellar Entertainment www.stellargroup.com > See page 132-151, 155 Telefonix Inc. www.telefonix.com > See page 44 Turner Inflight Services www.turnerinflightservices.com > See page 52 Video Technology Services, Inc www.videotechnologyservices.com > See page 85 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Non-Theatrical www.ebvnt.disney.com > See front cover Warner Bros www.warnerbros.com > See page 137 W.L Gore & Associates GmbH www.gore.com > See page 100 Zodiac In-Flight Entertainment www.imsco-us.com > See page 40
Airline Passenger Experience Association
EXPERIENCE PERFORMANCE AT A HIGHER LEVEL
Our new premium seats in economy and business class
Welcome to the Aircraft Interiors Expo Hamburg April 5 – 7, 2016, hall B7, stand B20
Our innovative seating solutions allow for a wide range of configurations that can be customized to your specific requirements. With our comprehensive product and service offerings we are ready to serve you anywhere in the world. Let’s discuss your needs – for an appointment at the Hamburg show, please contact our Sales Department or email us at aix@recaro-as.com.
www.recaro-as.com
apex experience
Follow us @theAPEXassoc
Spring Forward
Contents
volume 6, edition 2 march - april 2016
While you’re running the industry event circuit, we anticipate trends inside the cabin, from tablet mounts to dreamy lighting. We also tour Recaro’s Schwäbisch Hall factory and contemplate some refreshing class concepts that are springing up. Also, don’t forget to stop and smell the tulips at APEX MultiMedia Market in Amsterdam.
> Features
> In Profile
70
89
98
Seats That Fly
Upping the Low-Cost Game
The Aging Traveler
Manufacturing seats for commercial aviation is a perplexing proposition, but on our exclusive tour of Recaro’s headquarters and factory, we learn that seat builders love a good problem. Katie Sehl
With competition among Europe’s budget airlines on the rise, the race to the bottom has become the race to the top, and passengers are reaping the rewards. Maryann Simson
In preparation for a growing bracket of senior passengers, airlines, original equipment manufacturers and suppliers are coming up with new ways to accommodate travelers with limited mobility and special needs.
68 Heather Poole Flight Attendant
Howard Slutsken
76 Jeff Standerski Senior Vice-President, Information Management Systems, Rockwell Collins
109
photos: Wolfram Scheible; easyjet; Stellar entertainment; Wonho Frank lee illustrations: Marcelo Cáceres; pablo Lüebert
Star Power Down Under Stellar Entertainment’s big move and headquarters overhaul marks more than a successful venture in interior design for the Australian content service provider.
86 Maura Chacko Vice-President, Development, Spafax
96 Jovita Toh Chief Executive Officer, Encore Inflight Limited
Katie Sehl
55 Class Concepts New ideas from Teague, Zodiac Aerospace, Airbus, Virgin and more are leaving traditional cabin configurations in the dust. Caroline Ku and Katie Sehl
115 Air Messenger Airlines are proving that instant messaging platforms are more than just a fad – they’re a smart way for businesses to engage with customers in an increasingly mobile world. Jordan Yerman
Airline Passenger Experience Association
106 Erdmann Rauer Chief Executive Officer, LSG Lufthansa Service Holding AG volume 6, edition 2
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Contents
apex experience
Comfort & Ambience Entertainment & Connectivity Catering & Services
Visit us at apex.aero
volume 6, edition 2 march - april 2016
> Industry
29 Comfort
42 All the Rage for High Dynamic Range
Factorydesign draws inspiration from the human body.
From high definition to HDR, we explore the tech that’s taking screens to new heights.
With a Twist
Jenn Wint
30 Sitting on Air Lantal breathes fresh air into seat comfort with pneumatics.
45 Connectivity Chatter
> APEX
> Standbys
17 CEO’s Letter
20 Editor’s Letter
18 Board News
22 Featured Contributors
32 Dream Seats
24 APEX in Action
153 Room and Board
We ask interior designers to rethink aircraft seating.
124 - 128
Katie Sehl
APEX News
Katie Sehl
We know what passengers think about connectivity, but what does the industry think? Katie Sehl
35 Material Expressions
Techy patterns and cozy textiles are in vogue this season.
46 Double the Fun Second-screening in flight opens more than a few portals. Marisa Garcia
Maryann Simson
49 Embedded Trip Advising
37 Light Ideas Boeing shares enlightening research on interior concepts.
Passengers can now explore TripAdvisor on the fly.
Howard Slutsken
Damien Caissie
38 Shells,
51 That
Clamps and Mounts
Emoji Money
There’s more than one way to affix devices to seats.
Airlines are realizing that to reach millennials, they have to talk their language.
Marisa Garcia
Caroline Ku
41 Rich Advertising
53 Getting Corny
Airlines are sitting on a mostly untapped gold mine of customer data.
Popcorn might just be popping up on in-flight menus in the near future.
130 IFSA News
> Listings
132 Movie Listings 10 Advertisers’ Index
79 Roundtable: Entertainment Unwired Industry experts share their thoughts on wireless in-flight entertainment. Marisa Garcia
121 Travelogue: Words From the Window Seat This flight attendant shows that acts of kindness can have enormous reach. Taylor Tippett
154 Throwback: Lounge on Wheels In the swinging 1960s, one architect thought that even off-boarding could be groovy. Caroline Ku
Jason Kessler
Fergus Baird 14
volume 6, edition 2
Airline Passenger Experience Association
photos: Factorydesign; Lantal; tisca tiara; Constanza Bravo; Lowes hotel; Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Balthazar Korab Archive at the Library of Congress; Coraje estudio; Taylor Tippett illustrations: óscar chávez; Ana Rodríguez; Clara Prieto; Jorge de la paz; fabrizio morra; aShle imbriale
Jordan Yerman
the power behind the european aviation network We are bringing in-flight connectivity to a higher level! Thanks to Deutsche Telekom’s expertise in LTE technology, we are building the first-ever hybrid satellite and ground network called the European Aviation Network. It will link up around 300 LTE sites all over the continent, for high-speed Internet across the busy skies of Europe. Together with our partner, Inmarsat, we are delivering higher capacity, speeds and reliability – making flying more enjoyable than ever. For more information, go to inflight.telekom.net
CEO’s Letter
apex experience
Follow us @theAPEXassoc
Dear APEX Members, APEX’s scope of influence has grown over the past months as we have been invited to open and keynote several conferences across the aviation industry. At Aircraft Interiors Middle East’s Inflight Workshop, I proudly opened the conference with new APEX statistics demonstrating the importance of connectivity and in-flight entertainment for Middle Eastern passengers. At the Hamburg Aviation Conference, APEX unveiled European details on the “airline passenger experience of you” in front of major airline CEOs. The following week, at Air Connectivity 2016 in London, I opened the event by highlighting how in-flight connectivity has become non-negotiable to positively influence passenger experience across Europe. Finally, at EyeforTravel’s San Francisco Summit, I spoke alongside APEX Board member Michael Childers about the revolution occurring inside the connected aircraft. At these events, I gained insights from members and airline
executives covering APEX’s needed and expanded role. In the Middle East, an APEX member approached me to commend the proprietary global and regional data from our recent passenger survey. The exclusive member data provided his company with unique insights that complement his company’s research. While in San Francisco, a leading content provider expressed appreciation for the tireless work and advocacy of our Technical and Closed Captioning Working Groups. Coordinating and working closely with the Department of Transportation, the groups have been integral in making strides toward developing industry standards for hearingimpaired travelers, changes that will positively impact the next generation of IFE systems. Finally, it was great to hear from so many people about how APEX leads the industry with the most relevant and comprehensive events. APEX will have the opportunity to
reach even further with exciting partnerships – including Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, where we will host a C-Level Airline Briefing with Google. Detailed information on additional partnerships and APEX events are within these pages. This is just the beginning. In the coming months we will be announcing amazing new APEX projects. Look out for the launch of the most objective and credible global evaluation of the airline passenger experience. APEX is also spearheading a project that will help studios and content service providers accurately monitor in-flight content activities. I look forward to seeing you at APEX events, including MultiMedia Market, APEX TEC and APEX EXPO. As always, please feel free to reach out to me and our incredible APEX team directly to serve you in our common drive to improve the airline passenger experience. Best regards,
> Joe Leader chief executive officer
Airline Passenger Experience Association
volume 6, edition 2
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Board News
apex experience
Visit us at apex.aero
Meet the Board
Virgin America
> Brian Richardson vice president American Airlines
apex bylaw changes > Dominic Green secretary Inflight Dublin
> Linda Celestino past president
> Joan Filippini treasurer Paramount Pictures
> Jo Boundy Qantas Airways
Etihad Airways
> Kevin Bremer Boeing
> Michael Childers Lufthansa Systems
> Ingo Wuggetzer Airbus
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volume 6, edition 2
> Maura Chacko Spafax
> Éric Lauzon Air Canada
Thank you to the members who voted on the late-2015 bylaw changes. APEX members approved all of the following: > All Board of Director positions will be moved to two-year positions (instead of some one-year, some two-year) > The current “Immediate Past President” Board position is now simply “Past President” to allow flexibility if the Immediate Past President is not able to serve > There’s more flexibility for the Board to change or discount dues so that they can act more quickly when needed, such as when Board members seek to offer reduced rates for multi-year memberships > The 15-day timing restriction for Board elections has been removed so members can have more time, especially during the summer/holiday months, to cast their votes
c-level attendees at aix APEX will host its first session devoted to C-level attendees at Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg on April 6. E-mail info@apex.aero for details.
apex multimedia market At the time of publication, the MultiMedia Market, April 18–20
in Amsterdam, is nearly a soldout show! The first two days will include one-on-one appointments, with the third day devoted to educational sessions addressing crucial issues related to the future of the in-flight content industry. See our Q&A with MultiMedia Market Task Force chair Éric Lauzon on page 125.
apex tec APEX TEC, June 8–9, will be colocated with the Global Connected Aircraft Summit in Los Angeles. APEX TEC attendees can take advantage of discounted rates when registering for the Global Connected Aircraft Summit. See page 126 for more details.
nominations committee The Nominations Committee will be accepting applications for the Board of Directors later this spring. To receive a nomination form, contact Lauren Beneri, director of Programs and Services, at lbeneri@apex.aero.
apex recognition APEX loves to recognize members who work hard to improve the association and the industry, so be on the lookout for applications to nominate Lifetime Achievement and Outstanding Contribution award winners.
Airline Passenger Experience Association
photos: Mehran torgoley; brent winstone, qantas photographer
> Alfy Veretto president
The APEX Board of Directors is committed to keeping you, the APEX members, informed about ongoing Board work and decisions through transparency. In addition to this dedicated space in every issue of APEX Experience magazine, the Board sends e-mails after each quarterly meeting, sends direct e-mails to the membership and, at many events, hosts Ask the Board panels to receive feedback from members as well. APEX is an association for the members, by the members, which is why it’s equally important for the Board to receive year-round communications from members.
LPE-P16NC
INSERT-1030
INSERT-1027
Serenity S1
AIRBUS A350-900 1:100 1:200
Editor’s Letter
apex experience
Visit us at apex.aero
Birds of a Feather As we flock together to the season’s expos, APEX looks at the ideas that are springing the passenger experience industry forward. Mirroring nature, tradeshow floors will be abuzz with fresh ideas, innovations and surely some big partnership announcements.
digital potential and content service provider Stellar Entertainment carrying its storied legacy forward in the Asia-Pacific region. Kindness is another theme, touched on openly by flight attendant and Instagrammer Taylor Tippett in “Words From the Window Seat.” Kindness, as a basis for understanding, undoubtedly leads to new ways of thinking. “The Aging Traveler” brings empathy and imagination together as it explores the ways design and services can be enhanced to accommodate passengers with reduced mobility. I look forward to seeing you at one of the many upcoming shows. Until then, happy reading!
> Katie Sehl editor
illustrations: marcelo cáceres
DEAR READERS, welcome to our spring issue of APEX Experience magazine. In February I had the pleasure of visiting Recaro’s seating factory and headquarters in Schwäbisch Hall, Germany. Watching a seat come together from individual parts to final assembly was impressive, but so too were the hidden stories in tiny details, such as the boardroom named Otto Lilienthal. Nicknamed “The Glider King,” Lilienthal (1848-1896) was a German pioneer of aviation who, among several other accomplishments, played a key role in convincing the public that flight was possible. His book Birdflight As the Basis of Aviation uplifted aerodynamics into a legitimate field of inquiry. Belief in the not-yet-possible is a thread carried through several stories in this issue. In “Class Concepts,” we explore cabin configurations that push outside of our traditional comfort zones. The issue also covers groundbreaking developments in the entertainment sector, with low-cost carriers tapping previous unseen
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Airline Passenger Experience Association
AN EYE TO THE
FUTURE LUMEXIS.COM
COME AND SEE US AT AIRCRAFT INTERIORS EXPO Stand 4B40 5-7 April 2016 Hamburg Messe, Germany
The Future of IFE
Contributors
apex experience
Visit us at apex.aero
Featured
Read Damien’s work on page > 49
See Ashle’s work on page > 51
See Wolfram’s work on page > 70
Read Taylor’s work on page > 121
Damien Caissie is a writer based in Montreal. He thinks a nap zone on transatlantic flights is a fantastic idea: “Having a section that keeps both light and noise at a minimum would be an incredible gift and could perhaps mitigate the effects of jet lag.” If he could choose his next seatmate, it’d be Ice-T.
Ashle Imbriale is a designer and illustrator based in Los Angeles. She thinks it would be rad if passengers could climate control their seats, and a concierge class – that could help with local recommendations – would take things to the next level. The last movie that made her cry in flight? The Lego Movie.
Wolfram Scheible has worked as a freelance photographer for 30 years, specializing in portraiture, business and science photography. The film Hachi: A Dog’s Tale brought him to tears in flight, which may be why he thinks a “Do Not Disturb” sign and a “Ready for Conversation” sign might be useful.
Taylor Tippett is a Chicago-based flight attendant and adventurer. If she could sit beside anyone on her next flight, it’d be Ellen DeGeneres: “I want to meet her so badly and talk about how kindness matters.” Her pro tip: Always travel with an in-flight playlist. Find her on Instagram @taylortippett.
volume 6, edition 2 march - april 2016
APEX Experience Magazine 575 Anton Blvd, Ste 1020 Costa Mesa, CA 92626 +1 714 363 4900 > Publisher Al St. Germain al.stgermain@spafax.com Cover illustration by Marcelo cáceres
EDITORIAL
PRODUCTION
> Editor Katie Sehl katie.sehl@spafax.com
> Production Director Joelle Irvine > Production Manager Felipe Batista Nunes
> Digital Editor Kristina velan kristina.velan@spafax.com
> Assistant Copy Editor Deanna Dority
> Copy Writer Caroline Ku caroline.ku@spafax.com
> Fact Checkers Tara Dupuis Leah Esau
> Digital Specialist Ari Magnusson
> Proofreaders Katie Moore Robert Ronald
> Research Assistant Ella Ponomarov > Contributors Fergus Baird, Damien Caissie, Jason Kessler, Maryann Simson, Howard Slutsken, Taylor Tippett, Jenn Wint, Jordan Yerman ART > Art Director Nicolas Venturelli nicolas.venturelli@spafax.com > Graphic Designer Eva Dorsch > Contributors Constanza Bravo, Marcelo Cáceres, Óscar Chávez, Coraje Estudio, Ashle Imbriale, Pablo Luebert, Fabrizio Morra, Jorge de la Paz, Clara Prieto, Ricardo Polo, Ana Rodríguez, Wolfram Scheible, Wonho Frank Lee
ADVERTISING > Sales Director Steve O’connor steve.oconnor@spafax.com +44 207 906 2077 > Ad Production Manager Mary Shaw mary.shaw@spafax.com > Ad Production Coordinator Joanna Forbes joanna.forbes@spafax.com SPAFAX CONTENT MARKETING > CEO, Spafax Content Marketing Americas Raymond Girard > Senior Vice-President, Content Strategy Arjun Basu
content on the go
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volume 6, edition 2
Airline Passenger Experience Association
Rethink passenger engagement.
It’s time for a whole new way of thinking about passenger engagement. At
Wireless and fixed IFEC systems
Rockwell Collins, we’re investing in a powerful portfolio of solutions to help
High-speed connectivity
you engage, entertain and empower passengers. Not just in the cabin, but all the way from home to hotel and back again. Because when you connect them
Scalable suite of applications
to their world, they connect with you.
Global enterprise solutions
Visit us at Aircraft Interiors Expo, hall B4, stand 4C40.
rockwellcollins.com/cabinsolutions © 2016 Rockwell Collins. All rights reserved.
Social
apex experience
Visit us at apex.aero
APEX in Action Over the past few months, APEX members shared spontaneous and celebratory moments from their offices, on flights, at industry awards events and an opening ceremony. Keep the photos coming!
Like us on Facebook to see more social photos > Facebook.com/ APEX.AERO
1. Don Buchman, ViaSat, surprised to see his APEX Q&A wallpapered at the office. 2. Hello, stranger! Joe Leader, APEX, and Jon Norris, Lumexis, run into each other en route to Hamburg. 3. Kian Teik Beh, Office for Space Technology and Industry, and Rupert Pearce, Inmarsat, at the ribbon-cutting for Inmarsat’s Singapore office.
2
4. From left to right: Marvina Chatzistavraki, Deepak Garg, Kiran Singh, Stephan Egli, Aurélie Branchereau-Giles, Neale Faulkner, Sean Lund, Phil Harvey and David Lavorel, SITA OnAir, at AIME. 5. Daniel Kerrison, flydubai, holding Inflight’s Airline of the Year award, and Becky Howells, HMG Aerospace. 1
3
6. Alan Peaford, Arabian Aerospace, presenting Olivier Durand, Rockwell Collins, with Inflight’s Innovation in Corporate Jet Cabins award at AIME. 7. Agnieszka Jacquemot and Oleg Knut, Axinom Aerospace, pose for a selfie at NBAA 15 in Las Vegas.
5
4
Do you have social photos that are fit to print? E-mail submissions to 6
24
7
volume 6, edition 2
> editor@apex.aero
Airline Passenger Experience Association
Take your brand experience beyond pen and paper. Introducing cabin lighting that works in harmony with cabin design and integration.
Intelligent Lighting. Progressive Engineering. Full Circle Integration. beaerospace.com/LIS
Follow us @theAPEXassoc
apex experience
This Issue
Coming Up
For more information, visit > apex.aero/events
Hollywood Connection
photo: latinstock
Global Connected Aircraft Summit (June 6–8) will be colocating with APEX TEC (June 8–9) at Loews Hollywood Hotel this year, packing two prominent industry events into one location. Attendees will be able to make the most of four days in Hollywood, Los Angeles, with double the opportunity to rub elbows with industry members, airline executives, cybersecurity professionals, technologists and experts – and with Hollywood Boulevard just a stone’s throw away, maybe even someone famous.
Airline Passenger Experience Association
volume 6, edition 2
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Follow us @theAPEXassoc
apex experience
Comfort
For more news on seating, visit > apex.aero/comfort
Comfort With A Twist In Factorydesign’s rethink on economy seating, it’s all about the spine.
photo: factorydesign
by Jenn Wint
It was an uncomfortable realization for Adam White – economy-class airplane seating had to be revolutionized. White, director at London-based Factorydesign and a frequent flyer, was on a long-haul flight, attempting to get settled in his economyclass seat, when the idea for the Twister Seat was born. “When you start to get uncomfortable, you don’t bend both knees simultaneously,” White says with a laugh. “I’m twisting and turning to try and find some comfort, but my Airline Passenger Experience Association
With a rib cage-inspired framework, the seat’s flexibility is intended to improve passenger comfort in economy class, especially on long-haul flights.
seat, stubbornly, is acting like a door hinge.” The Twister Seat is ergonomically designed around the structure and movement of the human spine. The seat twists side to side and forward to back, mimicking the natural body movements of the rib cage. Size-wise, the chair will be comparable in weight and dimension to standard economy seating. “This is such a radical departure from anything we’ve seen before, so we needed to make prototypes that we could do some serious work on,” says White. Seating trials of four to six hours, with four prototypes, were used to assess passenger comfort levels, and White says the results were compelling. Although comfort was the primary inspiration, health and social benefits were factors, too. “The seat accommodates
the intimacy of conversation,” says White. “[Similarly,] if you don’t want to be involved, the seat will twist away from the person next to you, allowing for the feeling of privacy.” On a less flexible seat, when passengers cross their legs, pressure points under the thighs prevent blood from circulating normally. With a modular pan that lowers to accommodate this movement, Factorydesign’s pressure maps showed the seat provides a significant relief of stress in this area, reducing the risk of deep vein thrombosis. “Economy doesn’t feel as healthy as it should,” notes White. But he’s optimistic it’s set to improve. With interest from airlines as well as engineering and technology groups, the Twister Seat may be providing comfort as soon as 2017. volume 6, edition 2
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Comfort
apex experience
Visit us at apex.aero
Sitting on Air Forget walking on air. How about sitting on it? Lantal’s Pneumatic Comfort System lets passengers do just that. by Katie Sehl
internal air pressure while programmed software algorithms adjust to altitude changes and passenger-controlled preferences. Gap fillers, pockets that can expand with air to fill spaces between the seat pan and backrest while in recline or lie-flat position, offer a premium comfort experience. An air-pulsing massage feature could also be a source of revenue, Lantal suggests. The system has already flown more than 175 million flight hours, with more than 20 projects concluded on first- and business-class seats on the likes of Swiss, Lufthansa, Air Canada and JetBlue via collaborations with B/E Aerospace, Zodiac Aerospace, Recaro and other manufacturers. Likely due to installation costs and its reliance on power, the system is only currently flying in the front of the cabin, but Steiner says, “We do believe that the technology and the principle can be applied in all classes.” The company is in the stages of developing an economy-class version of the system.
photo: lantal
With Lantal Textiles having been in the business for well over 130 years, its latest venture was both a natural progression and happenstance. While visiting an innovation fair in Switzerland in the early aughts, then-owner Urs Baumann was awestruck by a bench with air cushions. Then and there he decided to bring the concept to aircraft seats. The cushion itself looks quite delicate, but it’s not. Encasing the air is a welded polyurethane foil, the same heavy-duty material used to package food. The cushion is then wrapped in fire-retardant Nomex and Kevlar fabrics that protect from accidental puncture. On top of that, 3-D fabric absorbs and dissipates moisture. “It’s really a quality, sturdy cushion. It won’t break,” says Thomas Steiner,
vice-president of Pneumatic Comfort System (PCS), Lantal. But for customers with doubts, Steiner offers a pen and asks them to stab a sample as hard as they can. “Usually the pen breaks, but not the cushion,” says Lou Rickenbacher, the company’s director of Markets. But, why air? Well, nothing – not even foam – is lighter than air. The PCS offers weight savings of up to five kilograms per first-class seat, which of course reads as dollar signs for operators. Since the cushion doesn’t absorb liquids, it’s considerably more hygienic than foam and can be recycled. Comfort is also improved, especially on long-haul – a point proven by Solar Impulse pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, who selected PCS over memory foam for their around-theworld journey, the longest flight lasting five days and five nights. Special features make PCS more than just a replacement for foam. A pumpand-valve block controls the airflow to the cushion and is generally mounted on a bracket and bolted to the seat. Sensors continually monitor the ambient and
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volume 6, edition 2
Airline Passenger Experience Association
Comfort
apex experience
Visit us at apex.aero
Dream Seats If interior or industrial designers could create passenger airline seats, what would they do? We asked three. by Katie Sehl illustration Óscar Chávez
The Linda Chair Amanda Forrest Design and Lifestyle Expert, Media Personality Amanda Forrest Design
Reminiscent of a classic dome chair, the headrest would be shaped to give passengers both privacy and comfort.
Each seat would come with a toss cushion and blanket that would be switched out seasonally for whatever is on trend. For spring, why not a soft pink?”
My chair would be black because it’s effortlessly chic and would never clash with passengers’ outfits. The chair back would include a minibar and the seat would be facing the window so passengers could sip wine and daydream. There would be two armrests for each guest, none of this sharing business. They would be padded for comfort and finished with a cup holder for convenience.
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Ascend Lounge Chair Alykhan Velji Principal Alykhan Velji Designs
In black metal, the back of the chair includes a screen with custom overlay, a leather pouch and a Makassar ebony tray with leather straps. A deeper and lower seat, higher back, make for a more comfortable sitting experience for travel.
Su
Mitz Takahashi Furniture Designer and Maker
I would choose fabric without a pattern, probably something very subtle like tweed. The armrest, like a padded couch, would use softer material. Passengers can make the armrests wider by adding more cushions.
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Comfort
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Cognac leather upholstery and button tufting tops off the adjustable headrest.
The inspiration behind this chair was to make it more like a lounge chair than a seat. Custom black metal screenings contribute to this look and feel.
I took inspiration from midcentury design aesthetics for the chair, as I feel it is a classic style that really epitomizes luxury and high style.
For the cushion, I would use recycled materials, also memory foam. I’d include several shapes of pillows and cushions that could be customized for each seat so passengers can make their own nest. A little personalization is great since everyone has different posture and body type.
The floor would have a tatami mat, which is a Japanese mat made from straw. It smells really nice and feels great on the feet.
“The seat would be light gray, light navy or light pastel green. Something that is not too powerful and overwhelming.
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Material Expressions
Cabin textile leaders rohi, Tisca Tiara and Lantal Textiles offer a glimpse into the thread trends they’re setting.
photo: Tisca Tiara
by Maryann Simson
It seems that as aging baby boomers and digital natives take to the skies together, two very different trends have emerged. Cozy concepts that invoke the softness of home and technology-inspired looks will compete for the seat in 2016. “Technical-looking fabrics, 3-D designs, clear structures and themes from the automotive industry will be big,” says Airline Passenger Experience Association
Matthias Tischhauser, managing director at Tisca Tiara. “But so will fabrics coming out of the residential industry. We draw a lot of inspiration from there, as well as the furniture industry, where a lot of trends begin.” Ilona Illing, director of Design at Lantal Textiles, agrees that these polarized demographic themes are key right now. “Digital natives are attracted by responsive textiles and designs that are dynamic,” she says. “Baby boomers or those from other mature generations appreciate quality, design and functionality above all.” Following its bold Create PINK! campaign last year, rohi will again encourage airlines to experiment this year, and drive them to further understand the role cabin decor plays
Ambience
For more aircraft interiors news, visit > apex.aero/ambience
in breaking away from conformity. “Airlines know more about who they are or what personality they want to have now,” explains Philipp Dahm, managing director at rohi. “Their approach to branding goes beyond just color and logo.” This increased focus on brand, Dahm adds, has inspired rohi to think more about individuality – both from an airline and passenger perspective. Their Eclectic range is a great example of this. “An almost endless repeat of patterns, shapes and textures are based on a harmonic color concept,” he explains. “The beauty of Eclectic is that each seat cover will display a different portion of the pattern repeat, so each passenger will find his or her own seat to be different.” volume 6, edition 2
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Light Ideas
We look at lighting themes that have already taken off at > apex.aero/Lighting
Boeing shares recent research in interior lighting, and it’s more illuminating than you’d think.
photo: boeing
by Howard Slutsken
Cabin ceiling projections of stars, clouds and colors; huge curved flat-panel in-flight entertainment (IFE) displays; advanced lighting systems; massive translucent cabin monuments displaying current flight status and moving maps. These are just some of the concepts being worked on by engineers in Boeing’s Commercial Airplanes Product Development group. “Airlines are telling us that they want to have interiors that have a wow factor, and set their cabin apart from [those of] their competitors,” says Mark Ellis, senior manager, Payloads Product Development. “Boeing is trying to deliver cabin experiences that passengers and airlines will find exciting and yet comfortable at the same time.” Interior lighting systems have come a long way since the “one color, one brightness” fixtures in early passenger
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Ambience
airplanes, with Virgin America’s signature mood lighting opening the industry’s eyes to a full spectrum of possibilities. Boeing’s 787 advanced the art of cabin design using light and color; a multitude of LED lighting schemes can be programmed in the Dreamliner, enhancing the overall interior design. The 737 and 737 MAX Sky Interior builds on that work, and Boeing’s engineers continue to create new lighting and display technologies. “Cabin lighting, if done right, can make an airplane interior seem more spacious and welcoming,” says Ellis. “On long flights especially, strategic lighting can go a long way to keeping passengers and airlines happy.” In fact, passenger satisfaction appears to be directly related to an aircraft’s interior lighting design. At the recent APEX Asia conference, Kent Craver, Boeing’s
director of Cabin Experience and Revenue Analysis, described research done by the company soon after Norwegian Air Shuttle took delivery of its new 737NGs equipped with the Sky Interior. Even though the interior lighting was the only difference between the new aircraft and the airline’s older 737s, passengers “strongly preferred” the Sky Interior airplanes by almost two to one. “For the very first time, passenger satisfaction was not affected by load factor,” says Craver. Boeing recently released a video highlighting many “wow” interior concepts, but it might take some time before these ideas become reality, explains Ellis. “We’re in the advanced stages of some of this research, but not as far for other concepts.” Airlines have seen some of the concepts and are “excited about the next generation of Boeing cabin experiences,” he adds. “Through lighting and technology, we have the goal of making flying more exciting and comfortable. We hope that all of these concepts will be offerable in the near future.”
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Entertainment
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Shells, Clamps and Mounts
Visit us at apex.aero
Read more entertainment news at > APEX.Aero/ entertainment
Bring-your-own-device entertainment has airlines and manufacturers searching for hands-free viewing solutions. Innovators have proven resourceful. by Marisa Garcia | illustration Ana Rodríguez
hard shell Monarch Airlines introduced new seats with tablet-sized slots molded into hard-shell backs. Passengers can simply slide and secure their devices in place to create their own seat-embedded in-flight entertainment system. British Airways selected a similar hard-shell solution for its new Euro Traveller regional interiors, featuring a top-loading slot that fixes the tablet at eye level.
straps, clamps On Recaro’s economy model BL3530 seat, a fixed bracket and grooved shelf hold devices in place. At Aircraft Interiors Expo last year, the model also featured an elastic strap that holds short devices. Similar clamp-based concepts have hit the market from Zodiac and B/E Aerospace. BAE Systems’ IntelliCabin solution involves Samsung Galaxy tablets affixed to the back of the seat with extended brackets, while less high-tech solutions, such as Kanar Technologies’ pouch, offer a flexible way to accommodate devices.
integrated solutions Safety regulations limit the use of seatback BYOD solutions to the cruising phase of the flight to avoid head-impact injuries. Lufthansa Technik collaborated with ZIM Flugsitz to pass Head Injury Criterion testing for its backrest mounted Utility Shelf, so that entertainment can be enjoyed gate-to-gate. The development was introduced on Qantas to hold iPads the airline offers its customers. The Utility Shelf allows for a pivoting viewing angle and can be used to hold smartphones, tablets, eReaders – even analog books.
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tray table mounts Seat trays are popular alternatives for passenger device mounts, offered by industry suppliers and inventive independents. Recaro’s hybrid traytablet solution uses a hinge at the back and a tab on the top of the tray table to secure tablets in flight. Acro introduced space-saving tray tables to its Superlight ST (Small Table) fixed back seats that can hold a tablet upright, leaving room for a light snack and beverage. Airbus subsidiary Stelia Aerospace also joined the list of vendors, debuting a tabletfriendly table on its Solstys seat last year. United Airlines’ new custom premium seats, designed by PriestmanGoode and manufactured by Zodiac Aerospace, feature a tab built into the tray table that can hold tablets and smartphones upright while leaving space for dining. It’s tucked flush into the table surface when the device is not being used. Skycast Solutions offers two lightweight TabCaddy alternatives: a tray clip to hold the device and a device frame, designed for various seat designs. Both solutions allow for viewing while dining. Bringing two tech essentials together, SmartTray and Astronics have partnered to deliver tray table tab-clip solutions that let users enjoy content and charge their devices, leaving room to spare for paperwork or a meal. Taking convenience one step further, the partners introduced a device-friendly tray table that offers wireless inductive charging. Airline Passenger Experience Association
5-7 APRIL 2016 HAMBURG MESSE GERMANY
ZODIAC INFLIGHT INNOVATIONS ZODIAC CABIN Connected Cabin Division
Entertainment
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Rich Advertising A new era of smart in-flight advertising is set to spur a cloud-based gold rush. by Fergus Baird illustration Óscar Chávez
Some might say that current forms of in-flight advertising are flying blind. Static magazine spreads, pre-movie commercials and seatback ads have the benefit of a captive audience, but cannot reach consumers with the accuracy of highly targeted digital
advertising. Airlines are sitting on a mostly untapped gold mine of customer data, and with Wi-Fi becoming the standard and passengers carrying personal devices reaching critical mass, smart in-flight advertising is set to take off. At the forefront of the impending gold rush are companies like PaxLife, a German wireless in-flight entertainment (IFE) platform provider with digital advertising at the crux of its business model. Cloud10 – launched early this year – allows passengers to stream online entertainment to their devices, access services and shop during transit.
Read more about PaxLife at > apex.aero/paxlife
“More targeted advertising provides more relevant advertising.” Tim Letheren PaxLife Equipped with a customizable advertising platform, the app can tailor ads for each unique user. “It broadens in-flight advertising from the realm of brands you would normally associate with in flight in its current guise,” says Tim Letheren, PaxLife’s VP Advertising. “Being able to transact on a device means there are fewer barriers of entry to in-flight shopping.” Of course, until Wi-Fi is more widespread, its availability does pose a barrier to some of these services. Besides opening in-flight advertising to more businesses, ad-supported IFE platforms for smart devices will expand the types of advertisements brands can serve audiences, with more potential for higherquality, information-rich ads. “Cloud10 will be a really interesting proposition for brands that create really good long-form branded content but struggle to seed it,” says Letheren. Targeted advertising gets mixed reviews from consumers, but Letheren points out the upside. “More targeted advertising provides more relevant advertising, which is therefore higher yielding, thus can be less frequent,” he says. “This means the consumer gets better and less advertising, the advertiser reaches the consumer in a great setting and the airline realizes ancillary revenue without annoying passengers.” Piksel, Immfly, Kommworld and others have joined PaxLife in enterprising around the imminent bring-your-own-device and Wi-Fi-enabled advertising windfall. With data-rich opportunities at their fingertips, it’s easy to see why advertisers are eager to mine this emerging digital market. volume 6, edition 2
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Entertainment
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All the Rage for High Dynamic Range It’s not about how many pixels you have, it’s about how you use them.
From high-definition (HD) to ultra-high-definition to super-ultra-high-definition, the only perceptible change for most viewers is the superlative used to describe the format. One can only cram so many pixels onto a screen before the viewer no longer notices the difference. At this year’s CES, high dynamic range (HDR) was all the rage, since color and contrast have taken over as quality indicators, rather than ever-more-razor-thin sharpness. So, what is HDR, exactly? “HDR offers the ability to reproduce a wider range between the whitest whites and blackest blacks in a televised image,” explains Michael Childers, chair of the APEX Technology Committee (TEC). In other words, it makes colors pop. “When added to ultra HD 4K resolution, there are significant differences perceptible to consumers,” says Childers. HD, and all its superlatives, has a wow factor that airlines are interested in, such as JetBlue, which recently announced an HD in-flight entertainment (IFE) upgrade on its A320 revamp. But according to Childers, “HDR has more impact on IFE potentially than [does] resolution, since HDR impacts every display to some degree, regardless of screen size,” he says. Finding that sweet spot where resolution, screen size and HDR converge could make all the difference. The TEC Committee may start looking at HDR more closely this year in terms of display characteristics and workflow. “But, as usual, the set manufacturers are out in front of the digital delivery supply chain that must deliver native HDR images through live broadcasting,” Childers notes. There are several flavors of HDR on the market, such as HDR 10 and Dolby’s proprietary Dolby Vision. This might put content creation studios in the difficult and expensive position of creating multiple master versions of a single title. “That, of course, is a non-starter for IFE,” says Childers.
Test your tech-acronym knowledge at > apex.aero/ tech-Lingo
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Airline Passenger Experience Association
photo: istockphoto
by Jordan Yerman
IFEC Reference Designs & Product Platforms | Custom Product Development | Documentation Testing & Certification | Manufacturing | Product Lifecycle Management
First Class Solutions
With Building Block Flexibility The Telefonix PDT line of best-in class inflight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) product platforms continues to grow and evolve with new features being added to our CabinVista™ (Cabin Control Panel), CabinPinnacle™ (Server), CabinACe™ (Wireless Access Point) and CabinPeak™ (Pico Cell) products. The line enables maximum flexibility, both in terms of customization opportunities and the ability for customers to mix and match components to create their optimal IFEC system. These are just some of the ways that Telefonix PDT is bringing new ideas to the marketplace. Learn more at www.TelefonixPDT.com
©2016 All Rights Reserved. Telefonix® and the Telefonix Logo® are Registered Trademarks of Telefonix, Inc. Summit™ is a trademark of Telefonix, Inc.
Connectivity
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Connectivity Chatter It’s no secret that passengers want Wi-Fi, but how does the industry feel about it? In this poll, peers, airline representatives, aerospace experts and connectivity providers share their thoughts. illustration Clara Prieto
Why are you investing in onboard Wi-Fi?
What is the most challenging aspect of onboard connectivity?
34% Competitive advantage
Maintaining availability, reliability and performance
19% Opportunity to monetize
Managing customer expectations 22%
30%
19% Operational efficiencies
15% Cost of doing business
Lack of aligned strategy or vision 19%
13% Other
Capital funding 17% Managing costs 12%
Which communication channel are you leaning toward? 56% Combination
From dial-up to high-speed, where do you think we are today?
22% Ku 13% Ka
67% Will take several years to get there
4% Cellular 5% Other
What is your expectation for speed and bandwidth?
59% Must provide at-home experience
21% Ability to throttle by tiers
Is there a positive rate of return for investing in connectivity?
16% 4% Just Other enough for basic functions
5% No 16% Not sure yet 79% Yes
How do you plan to use onboard connectivity? 2% Flight attendant tools
What do you believe the average take rate was in 2015 and will be by 2020?
2% Pilot tools 6% Passenger access to Internet 86% All of the above
The information collected in this infographic is based on a survey of attendees conducted by the Global Connected Aircraft Summit during its 2015 conference in Washington, DC.
Airline Passenger Experience Association
2015 Percentage of answers
4% Aircraft maintenance
21% 12% Will never Stuck in get there dial-up era
2020
50%
0%
Take Rate
-10%
10–20%
20–30%
30–60%
+60%
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Connectivity
apex experience
Double the Fun The second-screening phenomenon continues to take off, on the ground and in the air. by Marisa Garcia illustration Jorge de la Paz
With the growth in popularity of personal electronic devices (PEDs), passengers have developed multi-screening habits at home that they would like to continue in the air, and in-flight entertainment (IFE) and connectivity systems are evolving to offer passengers that flexibility. “With the loosening of the FAA and EASA restrictions on the in-flight use of PEDs, Bluetooth and gate-to-gate Wi-Fi availability, 46
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Find the latest connectivity news at > apex.aero/ connectivity
I believe we’re going to see an increase in the use of [technology that] pairs passenger devices with the seatback IFE screens,” says Jon Norris, vice-president of Sales, Lumexis Corporation. For Norris, the multi-device pairing has the potential to enable “a wide range of dual-screen entertainment and infotainment services.” Lumexis is betting on this potential with its Fiber-To-The-Screen system, which was most recently selected by Caribbean Airlines for installation on its B737 fleet. Airline passengers can interact with the moving map, order food or drinks, and shop from a duty-free selection with their personal devices, just as they might on the larger screen, Norris says. They can also access data on video content they’re watching, such as commentary on movies or TV episodes, scrolling script and even purchase items related to the entertainment.
Thales is betting on it, too. The recent launch of its Android-based Thales STV+ IFE platform on JetBlue unlocked new potentials with personal device pairings that hadn’t been considered before. Jamie Perry, the airline’s VP of Brand and Product Development, believes dual screening could also improve in-flight gaming. “We never really got into gaming on seatback, because it’s really difficult to play games with the controller,” he says. “But if you can use your device to control what’s on the screen, [you] can do an awful lot of things on the seatback that you couldn’t do before.” Airlines can also benefit from multiscreening systems by pairing their own devices to troubleshoot or reset platforms that are down, or offer additional services to passengers through the IFE screen.
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WHEN partners MEET passenger needs
It’s all about connecting the right people, products and possibilities for a unique travel experience: join us to discover how we can work together to create engaging new solutions for your passengers. World Travel Catering and Onboard Services Expo Hall A1, Booth 1G30 5-7 April Hamburg, Germany lsg-group.com
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Embedded Trip Advising
For related news, visit > apex.aero/services
As part of Air New Zealand’s seatback entertainment system, TripAdvisor gives passengers the ability to book restaurants, hotels and activities, on the fly. by Damien Caissie | illustration Fabrizio Morra
It’s hard to imagine life before the smartphone. Reservations for dinner, flights and hotels were made well in advance, and trips and routes were plotted out on actual maps. Today, however, accustomed to a new degree of freedom and consumer choice, we leave these to the last minute. Now travelers can leave them even longer. In partnership with Global Eagle Entertainment (GEE), TripAdvisor’s five-million-plus business listing reviews and booking platform is available for passengers to peruse through Air New Zealand’s in-flight entertainment (IFE) offerings. “This enables passengers traveling on Air New Zealand to find the best hotels, restaurants or activities even while they are up in the air and before arriving at their destination,” says Aaron Hung, TripAdvisor’s
Airline Passenger Experience Association
Services
director of Partnerships, APAC. Passengers can begin to discover what awaits them before landing, while remaining engaged with both the airline and TripAdvisor’s brand.
“Aircraft with enabled Internet connectivity could allow users live access.” Aaron Hung TripAdvisor
Accessing TripAdvisor through an IFE console permits a level of specificity that can be fine-tuned to the individual passenger’s needs. “In the world of in-seat applications on non-connected aircraft, most of the traditional destination content offerings are limited,” explains Jenelle Benoit, director, Marketing and Communications, GEE. “By targeting content to the flight’s source and destination cities, passengers are provided with information that they can readily relate to and use,” she adds. The merging of TripAdvisor’s platform with IFE systems bridges the gap between home and destination – and in-flight connectivity promises to do so even further. “The price comparison and hotel booking functionality simply needs an Internet connection,” Hung says. “Aircraft with enabled Internet connectivity could allow users live access, and we certainly feel that would help travelers even more.” No longer will those last-minute travel details have to be left up in the air.
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alook @t
WE KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING.
IN-FLIGHT “DESTINATION-SPECIFIC” PROGRAMMING A REVENUE SHARE WITH AIRLINES/ PARTNERS
alookat.com
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That Emoji Money Learning that emojis speak to millennials, airlines are concocting cheeky campaigns they hope will impress them. by Caroline Ku illustration Ashle Imbriale
Before emojis came along, we made do with emoticons – clever expressions made with the keystroke of a colon and an open bracket for sadness, or a semicolon and a closed bracket for a wink. Over time, punctuation fleshed out into tiny yellow faces (more colors were added later to represent different nationalities) and the range of emotions grew so wide, you probably discovered a few you never knew you had. Now, emojis have entered our lexicon. Last year, the term “emoji” tripled in use and corporations caught on. To promote new routes to Las Vegas, for example, Norwegian Air posted an emojiencrypted URL, enticing millennials to test their fluency. “Young people aged 18 to 34 are incredibly complex to market to,” says Charlotte Holmbergh Jacobsson, head of Communications at Norwegian. “We decided to take advantage of the target audience’s way of using emojis … to hype the destination.” Aer Lingus even went so far as to take inspiration from emojis for its 2015 logo redesign. “We recognize the unstoppable trend in the use of emojis as a sophisticated new form of communication,” the airline declared in a blog post. “By having our logo pre-loaded in smartphones around the world, we can make our brand more recognizable and accessible than ever before.” Skype one-upped static emojis with short video clips of movie and TV show catchphrases it calls “Mojis” to crack the burgeoning Indian market. “Bollywood
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produces more films than anywhere else,” says a Skype spokesperson. “With Skype mojis, [users] can share some of the funniest, craziest and most iconic moments from some of the best Bollywood TV and movies from Eros and Yash Raj. This is just the beginning; we’re excited to release more partners and content in the future.” Beyond Bollywood, Universal, Paramount and BBC are among other big-name producers that have latched on to this trend. Emoji gimmicks may garner laughs and impressions (a metric for audience reach), but as a revenue generator, they have a long way to go – especially by the standards of Japanese messaging app Line. In 2014, the app raked in an
unparalleled $656 million from B2C sales of games, stickers (supersized emojis) and merchandise, but also from companies and celebrities who wished to see their products in the form of a branded emoji. Branded emojis are a language that New York City-based Swyft Media understands. It creates specialized emoji keyboards for movies like The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and Paper Towns. “Brand engagement and brand impressions are becoming less about click-throughs and more about how people are talking about your brand,” Evan Wray, cofounder and vice-president of Swyft Media, told The Huffington Post. They are about “sharing that sentiment with friends and their network.”
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Catering
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Getting Corny Popcorn is popping up on in-flight menus across the globe. Here’s why. by Jason Kessler photo Constanza Bravo
While you won’t find potato chips on many diets, there’s one snack food that somehow gets away with seeming like a total indulgence while also getting approval from fitness fanatics: popcorn. Gluten-free, low-calorie and infinitely crave-worthy, popcorn has been satisfying snackers since its appearance at carnivals and fairs in the mid-1800s. In the United States alone, popcorn has grown so popular that over 10 gallons are consumed per person every year. Since 2011, annual popcorn sales have steadily risen and now total more than a billion pounds, which explains why airlines are happily jumping on the popcorn bandwagon as the next big in-flight snack. A quick survey of onboard menus shows popcorn taking hold all over the globe. Virgin America touts two varieties of low-cal air-popped popcorn, while United has had so much success with its organic Buddha Bowl popcorn in economy class that the airline will soon be rolling it out to its premium short-haul customers, too. Internationally, British budget carrier easyJet has partnered with UK artisanal brand Joe & Seph’s to offer gourmet handcrafted popcorn that’s 100-percent natural, with a rotating menu of boundary-pushing flavors like Camembert cheese and orange marmalade. Packaged popcorn may have already started to climb aboard in-flight menus, but will we ever see the day where popcorn is actually popped on airplanes? Sadly, the answer appears to be no. As anyone who’s ever overcooked a bag of microwave popcorn knows, the smell tends to linger for quite some time and the popping sound may be a bit unsettling with today’s security concerns top of mind for most travelers. “While popping popcorn on an aircraft sounds fun,” says United PR manager, Karen May, “for our customers’ safety – our number one priority – it’s not something we would do on board.” A popcorn lover can dream, though...
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The best in-flight sound ...just got better Increase headphone performance by combining with Phitek connectors. Magnetic connectors will also significantly increase the life of the jack and eliminate pin breakage.
To discover more, visit us at Aircraft Interiors Expo Stand 4C11, or email info@phitek.com phitek.com
Classes
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Class Concepts A new wave of class concepts is rocking the cabin, promising a total overhaul of traditional three-class configurations. by Caroline Ku and Katie Sehl | illustration Marcelo Cรกceres
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Classes
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Social Class
“
Just like plants, we all need some light during the day.” Maria Santiago, Chile
Light Lounge Desire Lines, the poetic name used for the cabin concept unveiled by Zodiac Aerospace last year, is a phrase borrowed from urban architects, which describes planning around the paths and movements people are naturally inclined to choose. As Zodiac set out to understand the preferred paths of passengers, it came as no surprise that people want to be where the light is. “We think that it’s something that naturally the passenger would desire, because window space is very valuable,” explains Victor Carlioz, advanced concept engineer and Desire Lines project lead. In Zodiac’s concept cabin, a divider creates a corridor along the interior that allows passengers to walk along, lounge in and enjoy the sky-high view. “I think this brings in some inspiration from train travel,” Carlioz adds. In addition to providing an absorbing view, a light lounge contributes to passenger well-being. “The three things that reset your circadian clock are temperature, food and the light you receive,” explains Deborah Burnett, a health and wellness design authority who has consulted for airframers such as Boeing. “Light is the most important factor, because it not only helps with jet lag, it also helps you rest your circadian system.” Aglow with rejuvenated and contented passengers, the lounge could also boost an airline’s ancillary revenue by offering self-service snack and beverage stations. “It can really enhance boarding, too,” says Tom Eaton, Zodiac’s team manager, advanced concepts. “Through a dedicated corridor, you start to streamline the boarding of people onto the aircraft.”
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Swanky 1970s-era lounges like those seen on Pan Am’s 747s are making a comeback. From the bar lounge on the upper deck of A380s flown by Qatar, Emirates, Etihad and Qantas to the upper-class parlor area on Virgin Atlantic’s Dreamliner fleet, airframers and airliners are raising the bar on aircraft lounges across the board. As a general rule, socializing in transit is frowned upon. So says Judith Martin, better known as Miss Manners, who advises not to “shout or speak loudly on airplanes.” And when airlines mulled over the recent allowance of voice calls in the cabin, the court of public opinion in the US largely ruled against it. But designated spaces in the cabin for socializing, especially for those passengers with the gift of gab, are an option many airlines, airframers and manufacturers are considering. Beyond the Light Lounge in Zodiac’s Desire Lines cabin concept, these blended-space areas would bridge the gap between classes, with seating configurations ranging from booths to bookable bars and chef’s tables.
“
While I like the idea of a social area, I also like how airplanes give you an opportunity to be alone.” Alicja Barranquilla, Colombia
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Vitalizing Zone “In the aircraft today, there are very few flat surfaces that people can use, such as [those] that can be used to lay newspapers on, or for food and drinks – or just for people to linger around,” notes Zodiac’s Eaton. A table-centered seating area is also part of Thomson Airways’ remodeling plan, launched in 2014 and timed for the arrival of its 737 MAX aircraft in 2020. Within it, family booths allow parents and their children to face each other across a table – a space where games can be played or meals can be shared. Duo-seating would solve the third-wheel problem for romantic honeymooners, by replacing the middle seat with a table equipped for champagne and handholding, and with enough privacy so that whispered sweet nothings shouldn’t bother anyone. In the airline’s Dreamliner cabins, the idea of a Beach Snack Bar would also provide a destination for more-elevated water-coolertype conversations.
“
Any opportunity to stretch, after a couple hours in a seat, has my support.” Eva-Maria Erlangen, Germany
“
That would be good, especially for long flights. It’s good to get up and walk.” Tanya Toronto, Canada
Airline Passenger Experience Association
Propelled by the anticipation of more elderly and female business travelers by the year 2050, Airbus’ Concept Cabin features a health- and relaxation-conscious Vitalizing Zone, which delivers comfort and openness to the flight experience as never before conceived. An observation deck with a bionic membrane offers panoramic views of the skies; holographic shades draw on hand gestures to control the amount of light and air let in. “If you’re feeling tired or dehydrated, it can bring water or ionization into the air to make you feel better,” said Ian Scoley, head of Industrial Design at Airbus. Seats even grow and conform to the shapes of passengers’ bodies, with smart technology offering massages, a drink or vitamins as required by individuals. “It’s no longer just a transportation [medium] to get you from A to B,” Scoley said. “It’s a lot more about the experience and the productivity and well-being of how you use your transportation system. And we’re aiming for a cabin that makes you feel healthy when you get off it.”
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Off-Seat Power Solutions™
“The Power Of Simplicity” Installing passenger power systems has never been easier thanks to the unique and innovative design of PowerBar®. The PowerBar off-seat mounting feature allows system components to be added without modification to the seat. This ability results in faster and cost effective installations. The lightweight and certified seat track mounted design is compatible with all AC and USB passenger power systems. PowerBar provides convenient forward and aft facing outlet unit locations for passengers and is compatible with most economy class seat designs.
Visit us at the 2016 Aircraft Interiors Expo, booth 2B30. Contact Us +1.630.285.0200 www.astronics.com
armstrongsales@astronics.com
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“
I have a kid so I’m constantly needing stuff from my carryon. This would be a wonderful solution for parents.” Maria Santiago, Chile
Click Class Here’s a riddle. What type of passenger does a boarding call for the Click Class bring to the gate? Answer: businesspeople – all of whom carry the same slim suitcase and belong to an exclusive class in Teague’s dream airline, Poppi. The suitcase, a symbol of membership, is designed to click into the bay of an aisle seat. It rejects the notion that amenity kits, mileage points, lavish meals and lie-flat seats are the only way to reward frequent flyers. “Loyalty in the airline industry is mostly a myth,” says Devin Liddell, principal brand strategist at Teague. “There’s a desire from passengers for airlines to behave as lifestyle brands.” Click Class acknowledges the needs of a more economical business traveler who isn’t looking for traditional businessclass luxuries; they value the seat-side storage and aisle seat that can keep
Airline Passenger Experience Association
up with their on-the-go lifestyle. Poppi even beats disruptive startups like Dufl and AirPortr to the race by delivering passengers’ bags to their hotels or alternative accommodations, offering travel without the burden of having your luggage in tow. Sure, subscribing to Click Class could mean being stuck with a suitcase you may not like or packing less than you’re used to, but Liddell sees the benefits of a membership model. He offers the example of being a Starbucks Rewards member and not feeling intrigued to stray toward other coffee chains. “I ignore them all because I have bought into Starbucks and, more importantly, I have opted out of the competition.” Membership “is a perfect way for us to cement our relationship with passengers and for us to make the brand ownable for those people.”
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Maybe it’s not what you want for personal traveling, but if your company’s willing to reimburse the suitcase, it’s super convenient.” Tanya Toronto, Canada
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As someone who’s had the misfortune of sitting next to a kid who wouldn’t stop wailing, I think it’s a fantastic idea.”
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Kid Class Child-free zones – as controversial as they are – have been proposed for all sorts of public areas: restaurants, beaches, theaters and airplanes. Scoot, AirAsia X and Malaysia Airlines are among those that have implemented kid-free areas. But of course, the flipside of this proposition is a class designated for kids only – which, if you’re a kid or parent, is the stuff dreams are made of. McDonald’s PlayPlace, anyone? Virgin Group’s Richard Branson thinks kid zones are a good idea, too. “I would love to introduce a kids class,” Branson said in a recent interview. “It would be a separate cabin for kids with nannies to look after them.” Before we see jungle gyms and ball pits on airplanes, however, a few kinks would have to be ironed out – top of the order being safety. While Branson and his Virgin team work things out with safety authorities, airlines are steadily improving services and options for those traveling with children. Etihad Airways’ Flying Nannies program offers assistance to parents, whether by helping them settle in or even taking the child off their hands for a little break.
Anirudh Lusaka, Zambia
Quiet Zone Child-free zones provide some respite for those looking for peace and quiet when they travel. In fact, “quiet” is what they promise. Singapore Airlines’ low-cost offshoot Scoot Airlines calls its adult-only zone ScootInSilence, while AirAsia X sells its child-free space as a Quiet Zone. But classes like these may take for granted that adults always behave themselves – which has led some to call for classes centered exclusively around quietude. On the ground, US rail operator Amtrak introduced Quiet Cars. Travelers in these cars are requested to limit conversation and speak in subdued tones. Phone conversations are banned and devices must be kept in silent mode. Sounds good and quiet in principle, but at times may require enforcement – as Amtrak found out in October last year when loud-talking New Jersey governor Chris Christie caused a stir.
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Providing a noise-canceling headset seems more practical.” Supanat Phuket, Thailand
Unlike isolated railcars, aircraft cabins pose a noise regulation challenge as well. Scoot’s ScootInSilence zone positions travelers behind the airline’s ScootBiz cabin and ahead of its economy class. While segregation helps, there may be
nothing stopping the piercing squeals of an unhappy infant or the loud talking of US governors from making their way through all cabins. Noise-canceling headphones might be an obligatory amenity for this class to truly take off.
Airline Passenger Experience Association
Application development specialists for in-flight entertainment and communications systems. Our software is installed on hundreds of aircraft and used by thousands of passengers every day in every corner of the world all in their own languages. Applications we have developed allow passengers to view their location on the map, watch on-demand video & audio, play games, go shopping, reserve a hotel, car or just browse for information all from 30,000ft. Established in 1998 with development facilities in Chichester, UK and Lake Forest, CA and a team of over 40 experienced developers we provide unrivalled expertise in the IFEC industry.
Apex 1-2 Hor.indd 1
2014-09-22 4:47 PM
The unseen natural world Let your passengers uncover the secrets of the wilderness on Let’s Go Wild and other fascinating documentaries.
Deutsche Welle | 53110 Bonn | Germany ife@dw.com
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Classes
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Sleeper Class “
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“
A lot of people like the idea of privacy when they’re sleeping.” Anirudh Lusaka, Zambia
I don’t think I would book a bed. Business-class seats are quite comfortable.” Maria Santiago, Chile
As on the ground, a good night’s sleep in flight often comes at a premium. Etihad’s first-class suites set a new standard for sleep in the sky, affording travelers with boutique hotel-style hospitality and the level of privacy required to reach deep REM-quality sleep. Along the same lines, Zodiac’s Desire Lines concept makes use of an airline’s available cargo area to provide private berths, which can provide a premium sleeping experience. Outside of private areas, lie-flat seats allow first- and business-class passengers to get horizontal, and Air New Zealand’s Economy Skycouch brings lying flat to the back of the cabin, across a row of three chairs. Tom Eaton thinks that airlines and manufacturers could “do sleep” better if decoupled from the chair. “Too often we just create seats that can do everything. We laden these things with features and
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“
Of course I would book a bed on a plane if an airline could provide it in economy class.” Supanat Phuket, Thailand
consequently they become incredibly expensive,” Eaton says. “So what we decided is, what if we can deliver the sleeping service in another area of the airplane?” In addition to the private berths in the cargo area, Zodiac’s Desire Lines makes use of the crown section as another sleeping area. “The idea around it is to offer a much denser sleeping experience than in the cargo area,” explains Victor Carlioz. “It would be an experience comparable to Japanese sleeping pods.” The Air Lair, envisioned by Contour
Aerospace and Factorydesign, takes the pod concept to the extreme, with double-decker pods that would replace a cabin full of standard aircraft seats. Aviointeriors and Formation Group, on the other hand, opt, like Zodiac, to decouple the bed from the chair, but exclusively in business class. Aviointeriors’ Micro Suites position sleeping bunks in the upper center of the business cabin, while Formation Group positions a mini-suite directly above the legroom area of two facing businessclass window seats.
Airline Passenger Experience Association
Join the Crystal Cabin Award 2017 – take the opportunity to win one of the coveted trophies for your aircraft interiors innovation. Application period: October – November 2016 Winners will be presented on the occasion of the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg.
www.crystal-cabin-award.com www.hamburg-aviation.com
Classes
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Promotional Class Getting stuck in the middle seat is an undesirable situation that Poppi understands. “The middle seat is this abandoned area,” says Teague’s Devin Liddell. “It’s suboptimal. We all admit it’s suboptimal, but we don’t price it in a suboptimal way.” So to make up for that, Poppi adds value to the middle seat by showering those passengers with perks. “Onboard Poppi aircraft, middle seats are not middle seats – they’re positioned as promotional class,” says Liddell.
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A concept illustration shows gift-wrapped merchandise from the Japanese casual clothier Uniqlo placed in every middle seat and its logo emblazoned on each headrest cover – prime branding real estate for advertisers inside a confined aircraft cabin. “This could just as easily be Xbox or Nike or Adidas or any number of brands … that would partner with us from a co-making standpoint,” Liddell says. Co-making is when two brands collide to develop a unique product, as done
by Apple and Nike; Doritos and Taco Bell; and Fiat and Gucci. And now Liddell suggests that airlines jump on the trend, too. “This is where we’re bringing brands on board, into the cabin, to deliver unique experiences that only they can deliver,” he says. “If you’re on board a flight to Seattle, you might get a nice rain jacket from Uniqlo.” And while middle-seat passengers relish the moment of unboxing, their neighbors look over with envy, wishing they had booked the middle seat, giving the advertiser even more exposure and miraculously turning the worst seat in the cabin to the hottest.
I would still prefer aisle or window seats.” Supanat Phuket, Thailand
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It would depend on what kind of present! Free miles? I’d take that.” Martin Santiago, Chile
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IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
BoardConnect Portable A full-scale IFE. Light. A fraction of the space, a fragment of the weight at a portion of the cost. BoardConnect Portable gives you an even simpler, more flexible, all in one solutions for low-cost operations. Based on rugged Mobile Streaming Units (MSU), server und access points are combined in one single device with a weight of no more than 1 kg. Plus, it is classified as loose equipment. Slip it into a frame at the wall and provide streamed content for up to 50 clients. Lufthansa Systems GmbH & Co. KG | Corporate Marketing | Am Prime Parc 1 | 65479 Raunheim info@LHsystems.com | www.LHsystems.com
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Interaction Zone “
I think flying is such an amazing experience. We shouldn’t customers in every try to eliminate A380 upper deck”. that experience Supanat Nangae customers in every entirely.” Phuket, Thailand A380 upper deck”. Koichi Supanat Nangae Montreal, Canada Phuket, Thailand
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Cinema Class What happens when a cabin class is designed with the passenger experience – and not the current paradigm of seat pitch and width – in mind? “Could we deliver something where people would actually pay more to be on board a Cinema Class?” asks Devin Liddell. Poppi passengers with a Cinema Class ticket are seated in a secluded cabin that resembles a movie theater, with curtains on two sides, dimmed lights and an overhead screen. The onboard cinema would run exclusive TV shows and films, and provide a unique midair screening opportunity for the studios, but also for passengers: Imagine watching the entire Star Wars saga with other fans on a long-haul flight! Immersed in such a cinema-like experience, anxious flyers might be more inclined to board an airplane. And with popcorn becoming more of a staple on the in-flight snack menu, the idea of a Cinema Class really doesn’t seem that far-fetched.
“ When Airbus conducted research for its 2050 Concept Cabin, one-third of travelers polled shared that they wanted their vacation to begin on the flight itself, not when they land at their destination. That response, plus all the hightech advancements that will propel us into the neo-fifties, led Airbus to develop an Interaction Zone, where passengers can do virtually anything they want – emphasis on “virtually.” Airbus estimates that by 2050, virtual reality and highly personalized technology will be the norm, both on the ground and in the air. As a passenger enters the Interaction Zone, touch-sensitive panels with biometric capabilities will download the individual’s profile so that it can tailor engaging activities to his or her preferences. Those who like shopping can go a step beyond window-shopping with a virtual wall that will let them browse and purchase items. The athletic type can partake in virtual tennis, golf or baseball games. Those with work to do won’t have to miss business meetings or lectures – and for thrill-seekers, Airbus’ Fusion Ball will see them playing an extreme game of catch across New York City skyscrapers and the Himalayan peaks.
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I’m fine with the personal monitor in front of me. Choice of movies is getting better. No need for a movie theater.” Matthias Ellwangen, Germany
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I think it’s cool if it’s for an exclusive movie or something.” Tanya Toronto, Canada
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“
Social media has totally changed my job. It’s a great way to stay connected to family and friends.
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Airline Passenger Experience Association
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Q&A
> Fast Facts Location:
LAX
Heather Poole
Now reading:
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami
Seatback or PED:
Both
Favorite social network:
Flight Attendant
photo: Wonho Frank Lee
Heather is a flight attendant for a major US carrier. She’s the author of The New York Times best seller Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama and Crazy Passengers at 35,000 Feet, and she also writes for Mashable.
To read Heather’s full Q&A, please visit us online at > apex.aero/ heatherpoole
Airline Passenger Experience Association
D
id you choose the airline industry or did it choose you? I think my mom chose it for me. “You can always apply to an airline” was her go-to answer whenever anything went wrong in my life. If I broke up with a boyfriend, there’d be an ad for flight attendants circled in red on my bed. My mother always wanted to be a flight attendant, but she didn’t think she could do it with young kids at home. But because she would drive me crazy about it, I thought being a flight attendant was the last thing I wanted to do. In college, I was thinking marketing. Then one day I quit my (non-marketing) job and decided to go for it. The plan was to figure out what I wanted to do with my life while I worked for an airline for a few months traveling and meeting new people. I wanted to do something people would respect. Well, 20 years later... Here’s something funny: My mom actually started flying two years after I did. I pinned her wings on her at her graduation. We were one of the first mother-daughter duos at my airline, and maybe the first mother-daughter duo where the daughter was the more senior flight attendant. She retired two years ago. Every job has a cool factor. What’s yours? In the beginning, it was all about seeing the world – and all those days off. Now, as a mother of a nine-year-old, it’s all about the flexibility – and all those days off. What it’s not about is the pay. Something that never ceases to amaze you in your industry? That’s kind of the great thing about the
job: Just when you think you’ve seen it all, something else happens. Like the time a passenger called me over to complain about the passenger in front of him who had reclined his seat. I had to point out that his own seat was reclined. And then there was the lady who got all bent out of shape because her tray table wouldn’t go down. When I suggested she remove the ginormous fanny pack around her waist, she looked at me like I was the crazy one! Last week, I saw a photo of an emotional-support turkey on a flight. How has social media changed your job? Social media has totally changed my job. It’s a great way to stay connected to family and friends and know what’s going on in the world at all times. I’m totally addicted to it, more than most people. What is the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you at work? I met my husband on a flight. I noticed his sandwich as I pulled the meal cart to the front of business class. It looked really good. I said something to him about it and he offered me half. Right away he stood out. He was a man with a plan. A man who knew how to take care of himself – even in business class! We were engaged eight months later. If you could give passengers three tips, they would be… One: Wear a sweater or hoodie. Planes are like movie theaters, always cold, even in the summer. Two: Wear running shoes in case you have to sprint from the hotel bar to the gate. Flip-flops and heels will only slow you down. Three: Calories don’t count at the airport. volume 6, edition 2
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Recaro
Seats That Fly We visited Recaro’s headquarters in Schwäbisch Hall, Germany, to take a tour of the manufacturer’s showroom and factory, and glimpse into the processes involved in making aircraft chairs. by Katie Sehl | photos Wolfram Scheible
A
ircraft seating manufacturers, more than anything, are problem solvers. Everything, from major problems to things most people would just accept as facts of life, is an issue that can be solved, chair or no chair. “We had a long queue in front of the canteen,” says Mark Hiller, CEO and shareholder of Recaro Aircraft Seating, “so a team had the task to really analyze and really
Airline Passenger Experience Association
improve it.” The canteen task force discovered that 50 percent of the employees at the company’s Schwäbisch Hall location visit the restaurant in the same 15 minutes and spend too much time deciding what to order, so they resolved to stretch out lunchtime and present the food options in advance. “They’ve really done the analysis and defined several actions to reduce the queue,” Hiller says. >
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green means go The color green is symbolic for a number of items at Recaro. The bright green color was introduced in Recaro’s seat displays in 2012 to signify the manufacturer’s commitment to sustainability. “We also have the environmental certification of our sites, which we just recently received for China,” Hiller notes. Regardless of the demand from regulatory parties, Recaro prioritizes these initiatives. “In Poland, we separate the trash and the recyclables – even though right now, this is not supported,” he says. “We are still separating it in the facility to train the employees, because we are sure it will come. We are prepared.” Across the workshop boards that line the factory floors, green magnets mean go, but elsewhere, the hue lends itself to the company’s endeavor to be more eco-friendly. “It’s clear that the biggest contributor to [reducing our CO2 footprint] is reducing the weight of the aircraft.” To that end, designers continually search for sustainable materials and approaches.
take your seat The storied history of the company, which has long specialized in mobile seating, greets visitors at they enter the showroom at headquarters in the small, industrial German city. An oversize book, open on a pedestal, outlines its inception in 1906 as Stuttgarter Carosserie- u. Radfabrik, an automotive body and wheel producer, its evolution into a luxury and sports car seat producer and the launching of its aircraft seating arm in 1971. Relics from the swinging 1970s, photos of mustachioed men posing beside seats 72
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or the burnt-orange, economy- to businessclass 7410 CVS Convertible seat, decorate the perimeter of the showroom as tributes to early ingenuity. The manufacturer’s focus on short-range economy – Recaro owns over 30 percent of market share in this sector, is well represented with displays of BL3530 and CL3710 models, but the company’s bold step into business class in 2013, where competitors Zodiac Aerospace and B/E Aerospace currently dominate, is evident as well. Hiller predicts the economy- and businessclass long-range market will be a key area of growth, with business class especially contributing to what he expects will be a $3.71-billion industry by 2018. With the CL6510, supplied for Lufthansa; mid-range CL5510, which flies on Cathay Pacific; and the more recent CL6710 – the ink still wet on a deal with a soon-to-be-announced launch customer, Recaro clearly means business.
factory assembly Before guests can get to the nuts and bolts of the factory’s assembly lines, Recaro’s legacy makes another appearance, this time in the form of a dusty-teal-colored 1950s Porsche Speedster, made at the original plant. Through the factory doors,
pillars of excellence line the outer perimeter and a series of boards on wheels reveals a month’s planning of the factory’s output in ink, numbers and green and red magnets: Green means go, red indicates a problem that needs solving. The “cockpit” breaks down the executive team’s numbers – from reasons for bonuses to absentee rates – for all to see, and another board reports a healthy 81-percent satisfaction rate among employees based on the last survey. “We try to be very open and honest,” says Zsolt Kulcsar, director of operations. The cacophonous music involved in producing these chairs is a tornado of mechanical sound, with clanking, scraping and welding rising and falling in an endless fugue as you move through the space. Eight production lines and generally two shifts work to produce up to around 64 seats a day, contributing to the factory’s annual target of 30,000 pax per year – the same number of units low-cost carrier easyJet ordered from the manufacturer last October. “We’re very flexible,” says Kulcsar. “If we need to improve our production capabilities, I can put more lines in the morning or afternoon shift.” The factory’s deliverability and performance has earned top ranks from Airbus and Boeing. > Airline Passenger Experience Association
Recaro
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“You bring the innovation, and then you ask yourself, why did it take so long?” Mark Hiller Recaro From pre- to final assembly, a seat gets made in about six hours. In pre-production, a metal line and plastic line both cut and form basic seat parts, such as the floor strut, seat pan or reinforcement insert. The upcoming addition of a thermofolding machine and the recently added $2.1-million laser-cutting machine will help Kulcsar boost production, which has already nearly doubled in the past four years. But according to Kulcsar, in the airline business, a lot of manual work simply can’t be replaced by machines. “On an A380, you can have up to 50 different seat models. You have very high variation: the front-row seat, back-row seat, bathroom seat, left-hand seat, right-hand seat, exit seat…” he says. “It’s not mass production; we’re not producing 200 of the same seat for one customer.” One of the most important tasks that’s done manually is the removal of sharp edges. “In this business, you are not allowed to have sharp edges.” After pre-production, the component production area, filled with workbenches, manually produces multi-part pieces such as backrest inserts, armrests and seat pans. Ultrasonic molding, a newer technology, enables plastic and metal parts to be fused together – a difficult task that was either forgone or produced by a more complicated means. Now, instead of a single material seat pan, the fusion of metal and plastic gives the pan a more flexible front lip. “It provides more comfort for the passenger, because it’s not a sharp edge and you have a little bend,” Kulcsar explains. Set up in 12 modules with one worker on each, the final assembly line brings together the parts produced in-house with outsourced electronic parts, actuators and seatbelts. “You get all of your raw materials on the line, you start with the seat legs, and 74
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From nuts and bolts to final assembly, staff work in teams at their respective stations.
at the end of the day, it’s the final seat,” Kulcsar says. Certifying staff spend about 20 minutes auditing the final product, checking boxes and attaching papers to the approved chairs – their seals of approval.
everything is possible The key to being a good problem solver is believing anything is possible. Throughout the factory is an implicit challenge to continually find improvements for its processes. “We ask people to actively share if they have ideas for how to improve the
For more news about Recaro visit > apex.aero/ tag/recaro
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Recaro
cardboard engineering Instead of using expensive materials, engineering a prototype with cardboard is a great way to explore new concepts. When Zsolt Kulcsar was shopping for new workbenches in the components section of the factory, he asked his staff to create a cardboard version of their ideal workbench and then placed a custom order based on their invention. But when it came time to replace the cardboard with the real thing, the team didn’t want to let go. “They said: ‘No, that’s what we did together, and we want to still have it,’” Kulcsar says. “So I had to talk to my environmental health and safety person, and he approved the workstation. We have to check every year to make sure that it’s not collapsing, but we’re very proud that we’re still using it.”
line, and if we implement their ideas, they get an incentive for it,” says Kulcsar. “It’s really important for us to not stop on a level.” Ingenuity stems all the way through the company. The Idea Challenge encourages friendly competition between the China, US, Schwäbisch Hall and Stuttgart offices. Each team is given a duty book with high-level parameters and asked to produce an original seat. “We’re using all the best knowledge that we have,” says Hiller. “We take the best concepts and solutions of the four results and agree upon the best concepts all together.” Airline Passenger Experience Association
But the sky is not the limit, so to speak. “Everything is possible, but it has to be economically viable,” says Christian Keck, manager, Global Marketing. The weight of economy-class seats has dropped by more than 50 percent in the last 20 years, but in the razor-thin-margined airline business, new ways to reduce weight are constantly being explored. For seat manufacturers, lightweight comes at heavy costs. “With lighter projects, the material costs are higher,” says Hiller. To manage the challenge, designers adhere to a defined ratio. “We use 150 euros per
We talk to Hiller about trends and his forecasts at > apex.aero/hillertrends
kilogram, so the design team knows, if they can drive down the weight by one more kilogram, it’s okay that the product cost is 150 euros higher.” Determining total cost of ownership, so airline customers don’t gawk at the initial cost of investment, is also crucial.
coming up the pipeline As chief problem solver, Hiller takes these challenges in stride. “If you don’t have a hurdle or a target, then you won’t stretch the ambition,” he says. “If you’re a runner and you don’t have a target, you will not improve.” Since taking the helm as CEO in 2012, Hiller’s made a point of investing upfront in innovation, and it’s been paying off. “Ten percent of revenues is used for research and development,” he says, adding, “This year, more than 30 percent of our revenue is generated with new products.” Another proactive approach that’s proven effective is anticipating customization. “What we have shown with the CL3710 is that we have already pre-developed several options,” says Hiller. “So, if you want to go with basic power, we can already offer four different options. The airline can really select and choose what it wants without going for additional risk.” Pushing the envelope only leads to new challenges. Recaro inventions like the high literature pocket that adds living space or the well-designed hinge for the neck support on the CL3710 may be groundbreaking, but for Hiller, they’re just another problem to be solved. “You bring the innovation, and then you ask yourself, why did it take so long?”
Mark Hiller, CEO
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Ninety percent of passengers travel with at least one device. I myself travel with two, and that number’s increasing.
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Jeff Standerski
> Fast Facts The future of flight will be:
Seamless
Favorite airport restaurant:
Garrett Popcorn, ORD Favorite suitcase:
Tumi
Passport stamp you wish you had:
Poland
Senior Vice-President, Information Management Services Rockwell Collins
photo: Rockwell Collins
Jeff has extensive knowledge and relationships with air transport and business aircraft manufacturers, airlines and customers from his leadership positions at Rockwell Collins. Most recently, he was vicepresident and general manager of Business and Regional Systems. A native of Chicago, Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautics-Avionics from Parks College of Saint Louis University.
To read Jeff’s full Q&A, please visit us online at > apex.aero/ JeffStanderski
Airline Passenger Experience Association
I
f you weren’t doing your current job, what would you be doing? If I weren’t doing this, I’d be working for an airline. I love the industry. I’ve seen it as a supplier; when I ran Air Transport International, I saw it on the avionics side; and now here, running our services business, I see it because we’re now deeply entrenched in the airline operations. So, working for an airline is the only other place I’d want to be. How do you see in-flight connectivity evolving? Passengers in the industry are increasingly expecting that personalized and tailored in-flight experience, really similar to what they have on the ground. Ninety percent of passengers travel with at least one device. I myself travel with two, and that number’s increasing, so that’s going to continue to surge. I also think about the generation of traveler and think about the future. When I was a kid, I was in front of the TV and that was where I wanted my entertainment, that’s where I wanted to get my information. I have a 14-year-old daughter and she doesn’t watch much TV. She’s either in front of her computer, on Netflix, or she’s on her iPad or her iPhone. So her whole life revolves around her communication, her entertainment – she learns through that device. What is the most overlooked aspect of the passenger experience? The most frustrating thing is time in queue. Whether that time in queue is waiting to check
in, waiting at security or waiting to board an airplane, I do think there’s going to be more focus on that. As an example, what we see in our airports is an evolution of self-service. At London Heathrow, in Terminal 2, our systems are installed and we’re providing self-service check-in. The systems are provided and people can do self-serve bag tags. If you had to pinpoint the most significant change that you’ve noticed in the industry, what would it be? Without a doubt, it’s the evolution of available information. And probably the best example is the amount of data that comes off a B787 compared to a B767. It’s 10 times the amount of data. What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you at work? In today’s environment, where you have electronic tickets and you have immediate check-in and verification of manifests, it’s pretty hard to get on the wrong airplane. In 1993, it really wasn’t as hard, because it was paper, and if you were the last one on an airplane that was trying to get out of the gate quickly … Well it was a bit of the Macaulay Culkin, Home Alone, papers everywhere kind of thing. So, to make a long story short, I went from St. Louis, Missouri, to Orlando, Florida, via Hartford, Connecticut. I was not expecting snow when I landed. And to this day, because of that, I never go to sleep on the airplane – not until we’re cruising and I know exactly what direction we’re going. volume 6, edition 2
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Roundtable
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Entertainment Unwired Experts in wireless in-flight entertainment discuss their views on current and future trends for portable systems and blended systems. by Marisa Garcia | photos and illustrations by Coraje Estudio
> Jo Boundy Head of Digital and Entertainment*
> Jimmy M. von Korff Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer
> Kevin Clark Chief Operating Officer
> Job Heimerikx Chief Executive Officer
Qantas Airways
Immfly
Bluebox Avionics
AirFi
*Reflects job position at time of interview. In February, Boundy was appointed to the position of Chief Marketing Officer for Qantas Loyalty.
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Roundtable
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ireless in-flight entertainment (wIFE) and portable IFE solutions promise airlines fresh opportunities to engage with their customers, and flexible and affordable IFE for both themselves and their passengers.
complementary content Qantas Airways has found that wIFE and portable IFE solutions consisting of airline-supplied devices and content streaming complement its existing embedded IFE systems. “Over the past five years, we have seen a significant increase in the penetration of consumer devices,” says Jo Boundy, head of Digital and Entertainment, Qantas. “Customers are increasingly comfortable with, and many actually prefer to use, their own devices to consume entertainment when traveling. We expect this trend to continue.” Qantas has blended solutions, tailored to fit passengers’ personal content-viewing habits, in keeping with the duration of the flight. “Longer international flights offer
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on-demand seatback entertainment for every customer,” Boundy says. “Shorter flights have a mix of seatback and overhead screens, and streaming services.” Qantas also supplies iPads preloaded with content using technology developed by Lufthansa Systems and its BoardConnect platform. The airline is rolling out a streaming content service that will allow passengers to use their own devices and will be installed on 50 percent of Qantas’ fleet by mid-2016. “Consumers now expect the same range, volume and quality of entertainment on board an aircraft that they get in their living room,” Boundy says. “As a result, customers’ expectations of the onboard experience will increase, with people wanting to access and watch their own on-demand subscriptions on the go and in the air.” Adding wIFE services, Boundy says, can be the ideal complement to pre-installed IFE systems. “They allow customers to use their own devices when and how they like. This is perfect for customers who like to access a full catalog of on-demand content. On the
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“On the other hand, we have many customers who prefer to not be glued to their gadgets.” Jo Boundy Qantas other hand, we have many customers who prefer to not be glued to their gadgets in flight, and they choose to watch the Qantascurated content on the overhead screens.” Boundy points out that airlines, distributors and technicians have to “respond with the right platforms, applications, content and technology” that match evolving passenger expectations. >
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“Tablet and phone software platforms continually change, which puts a lot of emphasis on ongoing compatibility testing,” notes Boundy. “In the onboard design space, there are many additional considerations; for example, onboard USB charging. And in Qantas’ case, we developed seatback tablet holders so customers don’t need to hold their devices for the entire flight.”
flexible portables Portable devices have proven useful to regional and low-cost airlines. Their lightweight and easy set-up enables airlines to offer in-flight content straight to passenger devices where it might not otherwise be available. Job Heimerikx, CEO of portable onboard Wi-Fi provider AirFi, finds that the growing demand for their portable IFE product comes from airlines concerned about keeping up with changing trends in consumer technology. “The airlines that we talk to are questioning whether they should retrofit their aircraft, because as soon as they install the technology, they are sure that they are installing tech that’s out of date,” Heimerikx says. “If you order a new aircraft, you’re in a design freeze four years before you receive the aircraft. With the speed of innovations in handheld devices, and in technology in general, airlines are getting more reluctant to invest in infrastructure. They’re not sure that that infrastructure will still be current when they receive the aircraft.”
“Expectations will expand to include shorter routes and services.” Kevin Clark Bluebox Avionics 82
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Cooking Up Something New LSG Sky Chefs made a move to capitalize on in-flight ancillary food and beverage sales through wireless IFE systems with the acquisition of Dublin-based Retail inMotion and Media inMotion. These systems integrate onboard shopping capabilities, creating an additional sales channel and broadening the range of products and services airlines can sell on board. Since 2013, LSG Sky Chefs and Retail inMotion have collaborated to develop and implement onboard retail programs for Germanwings, SunExpress and SN Brussels.
On aircraft with embedded IFE systems, Heimerikx suggests that second-screen wIFE services can encourage in-flight ancillary sales. Passengers on AirFi’s customer TUI Group, for example, use the wIFE system to order onboard food and drinks on their personal devices. Kevin Clark, chief operating officer at Bluebox Avionics – which offers both iPads preloaded with content and a wireless content streaming solution – believes passengers now have higher hopes. “Expectations will expand to include shorter routes and services – routes
that traditionally did not require IFE,” he says. This also makes portable solutions like Bluebox attractive to low-cost carriers that may find it impractical to install embedded IFE on their aircraft. Jetstar, for instance, has offered Bluebox service on its flights since 2011. Another practical solution, Clark suggests, is offering portable handheld devices on flights during service disruptions of embedded IFE systems, or when aircraft are being phased out and installation of new systems is impractical. > Airline Passenger Experience Association
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Because some passengers do not have their own devices, Clark suggests that airlines can generate revenue by renting preloaded devices in the economy cabin, and offering premium content that is not offered to passengers streaming off their own devices. Other ancillary revenue opportunities include destinationbased activities or duty-free sales.
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“The future is obviously connectivity.” Jimmy M. von Korff Immfly
software savvy Some wIFE providers are developing their business models around the strengths of their software platforms. Companies such as PaxLife, Kommworld, PXCom and Immfly focus on delivering infotainment and customer engagement solutions that help airlines build a digital bridge to their customers through passengers’ personal electronic devices. Jimmy M. von Korff, cofounder and CEO of content platform Immfly, believes passenger electronic devices hold the key
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to personalization. He identifies an “in-flight gap” between the airline’s many digital customer touchpoints. “The airline has a digital marketing strategy for all the channels – the app, the web – throughout the travel journey … The only place where they’re not interacting with passengers is during the flight. And that’s the most important point, because it’s the moment of service,” he says. Personalization is improved as airlines can
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gather passenger data, advertise products and services, and gauge consumer reactions to offers, von Korff suggests. Immfly has worked with IAG, including Iberia Express in Spain, to develop software that helps the airline close that in-flight gap. “With Iberia Express, we provide media content, destination information, flight information, information about the airline and video channels,” he says. “We can help airlines [with] software and content management, e-commerce – all digital models – data, advertising and so on.” While Immfly’s platform on Iberia Express works offline, von Korff says data gathered to the onboard server can be collected on the ground. “The future is obviously connectivity. We believe that all that connectivity … is a great opportunity to monetize,” he adds. “The average time our customers stay on the platform is 40 minutes. When they are engaged for 40 minutes, it’s a huge opportunity.”
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I believe that creating a content experience, and not just a lineup of shows and movies, is the best way to entertain and engage passengers.
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> Fast Facts Frequent flight:
JFK-LAX
Maura Chacko
Passport stamp you wish you had:
Iceland
Seatback or PED?
Both
Favorite social network:
Vice-President Development Spafax
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Maura joined Spafax eight years ago as TV Acquisitions manager, having previously worked in programming at HBO. She joined the APEX Board last year and currently co-chairs the Membership Committee.
To read Maura’s full Q&A, please visit us online at > apex.aero/ maurachacko
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hat do you think is the most overlooked aspect of the passenger experience? The convenience. I know that in many ways travel can be a hassle – traffic on the way to the airport, security lines, delays, jet lag, etc. But in the end, we can go anywhere in the world in a matter of hours. It’s a privilege to be able to experience a variety of culture, architecture and art around the world so easily. How do content and entertainment expectations change for people when they are traveling? Now that people can watch content from anywhere, their expectations for in-flight entertainment and what’s available while traveling have expanded. People expect to be able to watch what they want, when they want – and that includes in the air. I believe that creating a content experience, and not just a lineup of shows and movies, while managing expectations, is the best way to entertain and engage passengers. Every job has a cool factor. What’s yours? I never thought that my lifelong love of television – and encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture – would actually pay my bills. I not only get to watch television as part of my job, but I’m encouraged to watch and follow as much as possible. I have also seen countries I may never have had the chance
to visit otherwise. My job combines TV and travel, two of my greatest joys – with the added bonus that long flights give me uninterrupted time to read. What’s the one item you can’t travel without? Snacks! I always have an arsenal of snacks (healthy and unhealthy) with me. If you’re ever hungry at an APEX event or meeting, you can come to me! Something that only a frequent flyer would understand? The ability to speak in airline and airport codes. When I e-mail my friends and family, I have to remind myself to spell out the airlines and city names rather than writing YUL or ORD. Two things that you miss most about home when you’re traveling? My husband and, if I’m abroad, my television shows. Your top three films of all time? Carmen (the 1983 Carlos Saura film about a flamenco dance troupe – I’m a sucker for dance movies), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Clueless. (Though West Side Story and Spaceballs are close behind!) If you could sit beside anyone on a plane, who would it be? Daveed Diggs or Stephen Colbert! I would suffer in a middle seat if they were on either side. volume 6, edition 2
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e h t g n i p p t s U o C w Lo me Ga , price n o ely e sol mproving t e p com re i the le to carriers a reaping b a r nge and ost No lo e’s low-c erience, o. g p Europ enger ex s as they s t fi as n bene the p imso ryan
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nspired by the raging success of low-fare pioneers like Ryanair and easyJet, European budget airlines have launched in droves over the past two decades, competing fiercely with each other for passengers and routes. The tiny continent is now home to more than 20 low-cost carriers (LCCs), with more starting up every year. As if operating in a highly saturated and cost-competitive environment isn’t challenge enough for the budget carriers of Europe, modern-day passengers have had the audacity to begin speaking out about their wants, needs and rights. They’re fully prepared to voice frustrations publicly via social media and vote with their wallets – ditching one LCC for another without an ounce of remorse. Clever low-cost airlines have seen the writing on the wall: Low fares are no longer enough. The time has come to up the ante, shake up the strategy and, above all, charm the passenger. So, as with elsewhere in the world, the LCCs of Europe have been looking to stand out by improving brand perception and transforming the passenger experience. Even Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s notoriously brash and uncompromising CEO, admitted in 2014 that the airline could probably have been more successful had he listened sooner to late Ryanair cofounder Tony Ryan, who’d always urged him to be nicer to passengers.
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Clever low-cost airlines have seen the writing on the wall.
“I think the Always Getting Better program we’ve launched in the last 12 months and the significant improvements we’ve made in the customer experience – and the way the customers responded to that – would suggest that he was right,” O’Leary said.
easyjet: rewarding loyalty and maximizing touchpoints With 241 aircraft flying 735 routes, easyJet is the UK’s largest airline and Europe’s second largest short-haul airline. In 2015, the airline celebrated 20 years of service, the delivery of its 250th Airbus aircraft, and the fact that it still offers one-way fares starting at £30 (US$43), just as it did back in 1995 (though, for sticklers or penny-pinchers, fares were a pound lower at £29 that year). >
ABOVE A Ryanair flight attendant prepares to board. LEFT In celebration of its 20th birthday last November, easyJet unveiled a livery with 100,000 customers’ holiday pictures.
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The airline constantly walks a line between keeping fares low and enhancing the passenger experience. “Although we have come a long way, easyJet remains true to the simple principles it was set up around – to make travel easy and affordable,” a spokesperson tells APEX Media. “Our goal is to be Europe’s preferred airline. That is not necessarily about being the biggest, but about truly being the preferred choice.” EasyJet believes that the 2012 introduction of allocated seating (some for a small fee) has been the single-most popular improvement for flyers. To the chagrin of competitors, allocated seating didn’t hurt the airline’s lean turnaround times – and the option has attracted new customers, like business travelers, who the airline was attempting to lure. Programs to nurture and recognize loyal passengers haven’t historically been part of the LCC game plan, but at easyJet, change is coming in this regard as well. Starting early this year, the airline will introduce a recognition scheme called Flight Club. Hundreds of thousands of the airline’s best customers are expected to qualify for Flight Club, and they stand to benefit from free flight changes, free name changes, low-price guarantees, special offers and a dedicated support team.
Check-in reminders, directions and real-time notifications are all sent via easyJet’s Mobile Host app.
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When it comes to passenger experience investments, few offer bigger potential gains than the optimization of digital platforms. “Given our [large] scale, small changes often make big differences. We’ve invested heavily in mobile, and our mobile app has been downloaded over 14.9 million times, with [app-driven] revenue over the last quarter growing more than 50 percent,” says the airline’s spokesperson. “Other projects range from launching a passport scanner on our mobile app to launching automated bag-drop machines at Gatwick Airport and increased personalization across all touchpoints, building on the data we have about customers.” In November 2015, easyJet snagged headlines by becoming the first airline to incorporate Flightradar24’s popular flight Airline Passenger Experience Association
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tracking software into its mobile app. Mobile Host, another new app feature (and joint initiative with Gatwick Airport), pushes check-in reminders, airport navigation tools and real-time gate and baggage belt notifications directly to passengers’ phones at the airline’s main hub.
norwegian air: in it for the long haul
photos: easyjet; norwegian
The ambient lighting system aboard Norwegian’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft adjusts its hues in six phases: cruise, boarding, meal, night, relaxation and prelanding.
Airline Passenger Experience Association
In May 2013, Norwegian began long-haul operations from Oslo and Stockholm to New York and Bangkok, making it an official competitor in both the short-haul and longhaul low-cost market – two very different beasts. Today, the airline operates 96 Boeing 737 aircraft in and around Europe and Scandinavia, plus eight 787 Dreamliners, which service 29 nonstop routes from the US to London and Scandinavia, and six routes from the US to the Caribbean. Some might suggest that, with its bold network expansions and in-flight perks (such as cabin mood lighting, embedded in-flight entertainment [IFE], live TV and Panasonic connectivity), Norwegian has established a brisk competitive pace for the European low-cost market, especially with regard to IFE and connectivity offerings. Thomas Ramdahl, Norwegian’s chief commercial officer, would tend to agree – he’s ready for the competition to come a-knocking. “Our unique low-cost long-haul service has forced other airlines to up their game,” says Ramdahl. “We are already seeing other low-cost carriers look to follow in our footsteps by starting their own long-haul services, while other full-service carriers are looking again at their flights to long-haul destinations that Norwegian now serves.” Back in 2009, Norwegian became the first European carrier to select Row 44 (subsidiary of Global Eagle Entertainment) Ku-band connectivity for passenger use, signing a deal to outfit its existing B737 fleet as well as future B737 deliveries. Last November, free live TV service was rolled out across most of the 737s serving Europe. > volume 6, edition 2
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“Norwegian has always recognized the importance of digital services, from booking a flight through to the travel experience itself. Our website and mobile app have recently been updated with new services to make it even easier for passengers to book and manage their travel,” says Ramdahl. “We will continue to look at new ways to offer innovative digital solutions to our passengers.” According to the airline, Norwegian’s strategic approach has always been less about “no frills” and more about giving passengers choice. For those who want to travel with extra baggage, enjoy snacks on board, fast-track through security or access lounges, affordable options are there. “However, many passengers just want a quick and efficient flight, so they shouldn’t have to pay for extras that they don’t want or need,” adds Ramdahl. “Our flexible approach – a range of five different fares, from basic to all-singing, all-dancing – allows passengers to only pay for what they want, giving them greater choice at less cost.”
monarch: low-cost model to the rescue Monarch Airlines, formed in 1968, is a UK carrier based at London Luton Airport. In the summer of 2014, it became evident that the complex model of charter flights, scheduled flights and package holidays the airline offered was not enabling the group to deliver the expected profit or customer experience.
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“We will continue to look at new ways to offer innovative digital solutions.” Thomas Ramdahl Norwegian Air A project to restructure the group was completed in October 2014, allowing Monarch to focus on its core destinations in the Canaries and the Mediterranean, while developing a more sustainable year-round scheduled flying program and a more consistent travel experience. The airline was shedding its skin and emerging as yet another European LCC – and in spite of stiff regional competition, this proved to be the right move. In June last year, the airline announced it had reduced winter losses by £40 million (US$57.88 million), and at its 2015 fiscal year-end (October), the group announced a return to profit. Monarch has since worked hard to win hearts and minds through improved on-time performance and increased flight frequency, diligent feedback collection, enhanced digital services and through more traditional hard and soft product revamps.
Monarch’s website has a level of personalization built in: It recognizes customer location, remembers flight searches and customizes offers.
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“Our social channels have always been about customer-centricity,” says Ian Chambers, Monarch’s head of Digital and Marketing. “We use these platforms to listen, engage, promote, announce and resolve – at the heart of it is our social customer service process, allowing us to pick up customers’ questions or queries, engage with the customer and resolve their issues. Social [media] has to be credible and honest. It’s not just about posting advertising messages.” Monarch is the only airline to collect and display a live customer rating. “We use Feefo customer ratings as a core proofing part of all advertising,” Chambers adds. Based on over 400,000 reviews, the airline’s earned bragging rights for its current rating is 4.5 (out of five) stars. In other good news for passengers, Monarch recently introduced a free media bundle on its MPlayer IFE system that streams to passenger devices, giving customers a selection of free content in addition to paid content bundles purchased in flight. In February, the carrier brought in an enhanced range of buy-on-board food items called “From the Kitchen,” and through the winter, 11 aircraft were deep cleaned and refurbished with new seating, carpets and curtains.
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photos: Monarch
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With passenger devices and aircraft connectivity, all the mainstream content is likely already viewed or downloaded on personal devices.
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> Fast Facts Location:
HKG
Now Reading:
Jovita Toh
Far From the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy Favorite Airport:
SIN
Passport stamp you wish you had:
Greece
Chief Executive Officer Encore Inflight Limited
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A veteran in the in-flight entertainment arena, Jovita believes only in quality content and service. Her diverse career path spans from journalism, public relations and graphic design to media sales, publishing, content acquisition and distribution.
To read Jovita’s full Q&A, please visit us online at > apex.aero/ Jovitatoh
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very job has a cool factor. What’s yours? My team. I have been very lucky on this front. We don’t just get along and work well together, we love hanging out with each other. We play together almost as well as we work together. I look forward to going to the office every day. What do you think is the most overlooked aspect of the passenger experience? That individual needs, wants and behaviors change from flight to flight. Unlike being on the ground, there are just too many contributing factors to what a passenger may want or like on an airplane. The key is not to identify patterns, but to provide variety. How do content and entertainment expectations change for people when they are traveling? I think it differs for different types of travelers. With frequent business travelers, they expect to be wowed, to come across content they have not heard about. They are more adventurous with selecting non-mainstream content, because they have the luxury of time. On the ground, they are far more discerning, as time is limited. For holidaymakers, the ones that travel once, maybe twice a year, they expect to see whatever’s available on the ground. It’s the flipside of the frequent traveler – their time on the plane is limited, so they are very
discerning with what they select to watch, often expecting all the blockbusters. Have you noticed any entertainment trends that you find interesting? Art imitates life. With the ease of travel and job opportunities, every country – and especially its major cities – is filled with people from different cultures. The entertainment industry has embraced this by creating content that reflects this. Coproductions between the Asian and Western worlds used to be rare, but it has had much success recently. Passenger devices and aircraft connectivity have been shaking up traditional in-flight entertainment models. How has it changed things for you? As Encore has always focused on providing content that is not easily accessible on all other platforms, such as festival gems, this has worked in our favor. With passenger devices and aircraft connectivity, all the mainstream content is likely already viewed or downloaded on personal devices. This makes niche and not-easily-accessible content desirable and appealing. What’s the one item you can’t travel without? Mobile phone. Your top three films of all time? The Classic (Korean), Heaven’s Bookstore (Japanese), The Age of Innocence (English).
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Aging
The Aging Traveler As baby boomers enter the senior bracket, how are airlines, manufacturers and designers working to anticipate their needs? by Howard Slutsken | illustration Pablo Luebert
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figuring out technology and equipment, like self-service kiosks; and using amenities, such as toilet facilities.
empathy is the new hospitality
Positioned at a lower height, the pivoting bins in Bombardier’s C Series cabins were designed with passengers with reduced mobility in mind.
“The cultural changes required to support older flyers – patience, empathy, care and, dare I say, love – will need to be top of the agenda when it comes to serving our silver travelers, and will push many airlines to the limit,” says Paul Wylde, CEO and creative director of his eponymous brand, design and innovation West Coast boutique. Among other projects, Wylde’s company created Hawaiian Airlines’ new first-class seat and cabin interior, Air Canada rouge’s brand and JetBlue’s Mint class. “The biggest challenge for all customer service-led industries is that they have never had to serve such a high number of older consumers and for extended periods of time,” adds Wylde. >
photo: bombardier
he clock keeps ticking. It really doesn’t matter what we try to do. Lotions and potions, exercise and nutrition, and even surgery won’t stop the calendar pages from flipping. Every day, we’re getting older, but that’s not stopping us – we’re traveling more than ever. We’re joined on our flights by millions and millions of other older travelers. Some are physically and mentally able to handle the stresses of modern travel, while others have challenges, as will airlines and airports in serving this burgeoning demographic. The numbers are daunting – in the United States alone, the number of persons over 65 is projected to increase from 40 million in 2010 to 70 million in 2030, according to a 2014 report from the Airport Cooperative Research Program. The challenges facing the aging traveler are many, but the most prevalent issues are wayfinding; fatigue;
Aging
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Afflictions of Age: JAL’s Priority Guest Support through to assisting with all aspects of a trip, including accompanying passengers on a flight, this may very well become a growth sector in the travel and service industry. And it may help airlines deal with the onslaught.
Donning goggles, gloves, earplugs and trundling about in wheelchairs, Japan Airlines crew take an empathetic approach to understanding how to better serve elderly travelers who may need special assistance.
reduced mobility
Getting around in a wheelchair, let alone steering one, is no simple feat. About one-quarter of people aged 65 and older in the US and Canada rely on mobility devices such as a cane, walker, wheelchair or scooter. JAL crew are trained to expertly maneuver wheelchairs on sharp turns, through narrow passages and to climb stairs to escort travelers with walking disabilities to where they need to go.
reduced vision
To simulate cataract vision, one of many visual impairments that affect 65 percent of people age 50 or older, JAL crew sport goggles that narrow vision while attempting basic at-the-airport tasks such as pulling out a credit card or money from a wallet. Crew also wear gloves to hinder their ability to control fingers and practice reduced eye-hand coordination.
reduced hearing
During training, JAL crew wear earplugs to dampen the clarity of sound. Hearing loss is an impairment that is thought to be five times higher in people age 65 or older and of which one-third experience to some disabling degree. It can lead to exclusion from communications such as boarding and safety announcements, and cause isolation and frustration.
Airlines have long-standing procedures for catering to older customers. Reservation support through teletypewriter phones or video relay services, and terminal and pre-board mobility assistance are commonplace. Airline websites provide online tips for aging passengers, and seniors may even find discounted fares with carriers such as United and Southwest. Japan Airlines recently created training sessions designed to aid staff in dealing with the 102
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physical limitations facing aging travelers. In the training sessions, flight attendants were asked to wear vision-limiting goggles, gloves to reduce tactile sensation and earplugs to deaden sound, all to mimic reduced sensory abilities. For those travelers wanting a high level of personalized travel assistance, end-toend services are offered by companies such as Atlanta-based Flying Companions. From simply making travel arrangements
new design for old “The two main future challenges for airlines will be operating with the sheer numbers of older flyers and retrofitting meaningful products and services that will cater to the specific needs of an older customer without overtly positioning these innovations as age-centric. We call this challenge ‘new design for old,’” says Wylde. “Good design is now part of the industry vernacular, and transcends age, sex and culture. ‘New design for old’ is simply good design for all.” Bombardier took this approach in developing the interior of its new C Series. The now certified CS100 is the first cleansheet single-aisle aircraft design in decades, and will enter service this year. The larger CS300 will follow soon after. Antonio Ficca, manager, Product Marketing, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, says, “We positioned the passengers at the center of our design process, and built an aircraft around them. So when you think of it in the context of older travelers, having an aircraft that gives you the widest seats, the largest bins, the largest space altogether in the cabin offers a level of experience that is unparalleled, certainly in the single-aisle market.” >
“The more difficult challenges will be the softer cultural changes.” Paul Wylde
Airline Passenger Experience Association
Aging
The C Series’ cabin is optimized for its airline mission with five-across seating, including an aisle wide enough for passengers to get past a galley cart. It has enough bin space for every passenger to store a standard carry-on, “But one important feature is also the height of the bin,” says Ficca. “When the bins open, they are pivoting bins, so they open up and rotate, and when doing that, they actually open to a position that’s much lower than on other aircraft. So for an older traveler, the difference is very significant, the access to the bins, and the possibility to position your bags with very little effort, makes your life easier.”
Bombardier worked with interior supplier Zodiac Aerospace in developing the C Series’ integrated design. Even design for an accessible lavatory was put under the microscope. “We conducted surveys with people with reduced mobility and gathered their feedback,” says Ficca. “We made sure that the positioning of each element of the lavatory was such that it would make it extremely easy for people with reduced mobility to use, to overcome the challenges that they sometimes face on other aircraft available in the market today.” Looking elsewhere around the cabin, SII Deutschland has focused on meeting
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“We positioned the passenger at the center of our design process.” Antonio Ficca Bombardier the ergonomic requirements of an older passenger with its design for an accessible seating area. Foldable seat bottoms, like those in a movie theater, “facilitate safe ingress and egress,” says the company. SII seems to be on a path to address the design component of serving older travelers.
patience as product But Wylde recognizes that’s only one part of the equation. “Some of the easiest challenges to solve with ‘new design for old’ will actually be the harder innovations – thoughtful products, simple design, user-friendly interfaces, clear features, easyto-handle controls,” he explains. “The more difficult challenges will be the softer cultural changes – instilling empathy and patience to handle vast numbers of people who will be slower, who will need more time, will need more support, who may have difficulty hearing and grasping instructions quickly, who need to use restroom facilities.” Wylde distills it down to a focused observation. “As [an airline] prepares for an aging population, the most important product that it can develop is the art of patience. Patience will be the product.”
photo: bombardier
Developed with Zodiac Aerospace, the lavatories on Bombardier C Series aircraft are large enough to accommodate a typical wheelchair.
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SINGAPORE www.iim.com.sg
BEIJING
HONG KONG
EUROPE
Q&A
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“
The passenger is not just a traveler but a consumer – an individual who wishes to make every moment of his or her journey special.
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Q&A
> Fast Facts Location:
FRA
Erdmann Rauer
The future of flight will be:
Experience
Favorite aircraft:
B747-8
Paper or electronic boarding pass:
Electronic
Chief Executive Officer
LSG Lufthansa Service Holding AG
photo: LSG Lufthansa Service Holding AG
Erdmann has been at the helm of LSG Group since October 2014, and has been with the company for 10 years. He’s a forwardlooking, strategic thinker who’s adept at handling tasks with equal measures of energy and pragmatism. Over the past 18 years, he has gained considerable international business experience in logistics and supply-chain management within highly diverse cultural environments.
To read Erdmann’s full Q&A, please visit us online at > apex.aero/ ErdmannRauer
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D
id you choose the airline industry or did it choose you? The airline industry actually chose me. I had gained a good amount of professional experience in the areas of logistics and automotive driveline components before I joined LSG almost 10 years ago. What all these industries have in common at their core is a sense of constant motion, something that I love and need in my life. What do you think is the most overlooked aspect of the passenger experience? That in the first place, the passenger is not just a traveler but a consumer – an individual with particular expectations who wishes to make every moment of his or her journey special. Today’s passenger doesn’t simply want to be taken from point A to B. He or she wants to enjoy the trajectory by being offered plenty of options. This is why airlines need to gain a better understanding of the needs of their consumers, and offer flexible in-flight experiences that can be individualized with each consumer’s needs. As an in-flight services provider, we are working hard to offer tools and services that support our airline customers in addressing those needs. What’s been the most significant change you’ve noticed in the travel industry since you got started? When I started in this industry 10 years ago, it was in a completely different situation. It had just gone through a difficult period and
was still in recovery mode. Low-cost carriers were still seen as an existential threat and traveling by train was not yet considered a viable alternative by most travelers. Today, the travel industry in general has a much wider portfolio to offer. Airlines use very different business models, from low-cost regional and long-haul carriers, to hybrid airlines offering a choice between flight packages or components to pick from, to charter and traditional network carriers. Virtually every airline group operates under a variety of models today in an effort to serve consumers of any age with the right offer to fit their different needs. Gluten-free, farm-to-table, organic… What have been some of the biggest trends in in-flight catering recently? All of those three have become ubiquitous trends. But let’s call them food movements. They have certainly influenced in-flight catering, because travelers are becoming more and more international, they can experience any type of food anywhere and they are much more health-conscious than in the past. These movements, however, do not thrive individually, but are rather co-dependent in the manner that they move consumers. So, they all need to be considered when developing an attractive, flexible and enjoyable in-flight service concept. What’s the one item you can’t travel without? My smartphone. volume 6, edition 2
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Star Power Down Under Stellar’s big move to Sydney’s Entertainment Quarter marks more than just a headquarters revamp; it coincides with a global remodeling of the in-flight entertainment industry.
photo: Stellar entertainment
by Katie Sehl
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tellar Entertainment is moving on up, down under. In June last year, the Sydney-based content service provider and production company hosted the grand opening of its purpose-built $2-million headquarters facility in the city’s bustling Entertainment Quarter. Fitted out with private encoding rooms, an audio duplication studio, video editing and audio production suites, a soundproof greenscreen room and office space, the new HQ brings all of the company’s star power – previously divided among two buildings – under one roof. Australian accents and pops of green and purple top off the edgy, industrially designed space, furnished completely with custommade desks, chairs and sofas. “It’s very un-office-like,” says Helen Lynch, Stellar’s cofounder, who codesigned the space with Sean Yeap from SWOT Design Group. “There’s one couch that’s probably 50 feet long – it’s like a snake.” Besides impressing visitors, clients and celebrities who visit Stellar’s new digs, the interior design also caught the attention
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of the Master Builders Association of NSW, nabbing the Excellence Award in Construction. But more importantly, the staff likes it. “It’s proved to be a huge success,” Lynch says. “The staff loves being here.”
the shape of what’s to come The move marks more than a successful foray into interior design; it signals a business remodeling, too. Wi-Fi, passenger devices and the looming reality where the two are merged seamlessly and ubiquitously in flight have prompted much of the in-flight entertainment (IFE) industry to turn inward and do some restructuring of its own. For Stellar, unifying its two Sydney locations mirrors the recent merging of the company’s service capabilities – a shift that’s also reflected on the redesigned website. “Traditionally, Stellar had looked at its in-flight business with the focus on content,” explains Steve Gunther, director of Production Services. “I think the opportunity that we have with our studios and production facilities here in Sydney, [leveraging production for in-flight
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Aussie Entertainment Pop Quiz Think you know what’s up in the land down under? Av-a-go-yer-mug! 1. This Two Hands actor was awarded a posthumous Best Supporting Actor Academy Award in 2008. 2. Which 2000 Australian film earned Eric Bana global attention? 3. In addition to earning other accolades, this animated film was the most expensive Australian film ever made. 4. What is the longest-running TV show in Australian history? 5. “He played a Barry,” slang for “he did shockingly bad,” takes a dig at this Neighbours theme-song singer. 6. Which of these films did Baz Lurhmann not direct: Moulin Rouge!, Romeo + Juliet, Australia, 10 Things I Hate About You? 7. The likes of Kylie Minogue, Russell Crowe, Liam Hemsworth, Margot Robbie and Guy Pearce have all starred in this Australian television soap opera. 8. These two Aussie actors patriotically costarred in the film Australia. 9. In the American cut of this 1997 Aussie film, “rissoles” is swapped for “meatloaf” at a Kerrigan family dinner. 10. Filmed over only 18 days, this Aussie-directed thriller is one of the most profitable horror films of all time. Answers: 1) Heath Ledger; 2) Chopper; 3) Happy Feet; 4) Four Corners; 5) Barry Crocker; 6) 10 Things I Hate About You; 7) Neighbours; 8) Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman; 9) The Castle; 10) Saw
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In addition to offices and technical facilities, the space includes an open breakout area and pool table.
services] was pretty obvious.” In addition to providing IFE services to airlines, the company realized it could use its in-house production capabilities to expand its portfolio to include producing and editing pre-flight safety videos and prerecorded announcements. “It enhances our position in the marketplace compared to our competitors,” says Gunther, who identified the crossdepartmental potential the company had. “We’ve now done safety videos for Fiji Airways, Garuda Indonesia … and we’re working with Qantas on all of its audio and post-production, as well as the languages.”
photos: Stellar entertainment; afp
all in the family Over 40 years into the business, with five offices and more than 60 full-time employees, The Stellar Family – as Helen and her partner/chairman, Rob Lynch, both call it – has grown to a considerable, though modest, size. While picking up odd jobs in radio and voice work – some of you may recognize his timbre from his 10-year stint as the voice of ABC, Rob spotted a newspaper ad from Qantas for an in-flight programming provider. “I saw the ad and I thought: I could do that,” he says. “So I applied, and I probably was the Airline Passenger Experience Association
only one who applied, because I got the job.” A lot’s changed since then, especially in the past 10 years. “When we started, Qantas had six audio channels, there was one movie shown on the big screen, and that was it for in-flight entertainment,” says Helen. “Comparing that with what there is now … It’s quantumly different.” In 2010, working with Bluebox Avionics on crucial software and hardware integration, Stellar provided content for the industry’s first preloaded, airline-supplied iPads on Australian carrier Jetstar. Two years later, Stellar was also involved in Virgin Australia’s introduction of wireless IFE, facilitated by Lufthansa’s BoardConnect system. “Probably only something like a small, family-owned business would take on something like the Jetstar/Apple initiative,” says Rob. “In our company, you just knock on my door and we can give it a yes or a no. We try things. We don’t have the impediment of having to go through bureaucracy.”
local domination Despite the growing demand for IFE and connectivity, the number of content service providers has been shrinking. “There is a bit of a thing going on for world domination, and
I think there are only four of us left,” says Rob. Stellar ranks a distant third for global market share, behind Global Eagle Entertainment and Spafax, and is followed by Inflight Dublin. According to Rob, there have been knocks on the door, “But I haven’t answered the knock.” Global domination isn’t on Stellar’s radar; instead, the company’s happy to stay at home in the Asia-Pacific region. “It’s where we are in the world,” says Helen. “It’s the area we chose to be in, and that’s been a good choice – it’s been the right choice.” That may sound modest, but the evergrowing Asia-Pacific market is far from it. “The center of gravity for global aviation is moving east,” said IATA’s outgoing CEO, Tony Tyler, last year. “By 2030, the Asia-Pacific region will have surpassed both North America and Europe in terms of passenger numbers.” As competition revs up between regional carriers vying for growing passenger numbers, IFE will become an increasingly competitive differentiator, especially since – as APEX’s most recent Global Passenger Survey finds – Asian travelers rank IFE as the paramount requirement for a satisfying flight. >
The Top 10 Australian Feature Films of All Time 1. Crocodile Dundee 2. Australia 3. Babe 4. Happy Feet 5. Moulin Rouge! 6. The Great Gatsby 7. Crocodile Dundee II 8. Strictly Ballroom 9. Red Dog 10. The Dish Based on total Australian box office gross as of February 2015. Source: Screen Australia
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Stellar is well positioned for new business. “What Rob did very well … was to say to [a client] like Malaysia Airlines that being your content service provider means that we will invest in Malaysia,” says Gunther. Locations in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Beijing have played a crucial role in the company’s work with Malaysia Airlines, Scoot, China Southern and China Eastern. “It helps with the relationship,” says Rob. “You’re not sort of flying in for a couple of days and then leaving. We actually live here.”
aussie star power It also doesn’t hurt that, in the global entertainment industry, Australian talent has been taking the world stage by force. With 15 nominations at this year’s Academy Awards, the country had its best showing ever. “I think Aussie content has certainly evolved over the last decade in a very positive 112
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manner,” Gunther says. “There’s a number of Aussie artists who have made their way to Hollywood, and the great thing is, they come back with a gravitas that actually lifts our local industry and gives it more confidence to move forward with ideas.” And with its big move to the Entertainment Quarter, right next to Fox Studios, Australian Film Television and Radio School and other like-minded creatives, Stellar’s at the heart of it. By 2019, the Australian entertainment and media market is poised to grow to $43.4 billion. There must be something in the water – or in the geography. “Particularly down here in Australia, if we want to go somewhere, it’s going to be a 10-hour flight,” says Rob. “I mean, just getting from Sydney across Australia, I believe that’s four or five hours.” Plenty of time to catch up on the latest Hemsworth flicks.
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Cofounders Rob and Helen Lynch cutting the ribbon at the launch party.
Read our full interview with Helen and Rob Lynch at > apex.aero/Lynch
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photos: Stellar entertainment
Stellar
Messenger
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Air Messenger Instant messaging apps are revolutionizing the way businesses engage with consumers, and airlines aren’t just getting the message – they’re paving the way. by Jordan Yerman | illustration Ricardo Polo
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Messenger
T
he future is the present, and the present is instant. Social media is no longer a toy, nor is it simply an easy way to speak with (or shout at) friends and strangers. Social media platforms have become tools. A business would no more question having a Facebook or Twitter account than it would having a phone line. Funny, then, how it’s taken so long for companies to engage with their customers through instant messaging (IM), but better late than never. Unsurprisingly, the airline industry is getting in first, forging partnerships with established messaging services as well as exploring uncharted technological territory. “As Messenger has grown, we think this service has the potential to help people express themselves in new ways, to connect hundreds of millions of new people, and to become a communication tool for the world,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told 2,000 developers at the company’s F8 conference in March 2015. Facebook controversially spun its Messenger service into a separate mobile app, and the company is now developing it into its own platform. One new place Facebook would like Messenger to venture is the world of travel. KLM, Transavia, Hyatt and Uber are on board as early adopters of Facebook Messenger’s latest business-friendly incarnation. KLM and Transavia (both part of Air France-KLM group) are also currently active on WhatsApp, which had already built a huge following before getting snapped up by Facebook for a whopping $16 billion in 2014. The similarly featured Line, favored by All Nippon Airways and Thai Airways, dominates Japanese instant messaging with the help of more stickers than you can imagine. China’s WeChat is used by every major Chinese airline, as well as by British Airways, South African Airways, Lufthansa and KLM.
the business case for speech bubbles Business-to-consumer (B2C) engagement with instant messaging is not a fad, but the shape of things to come. It’s a natural progression of communication in an increasingly networked society, and a venture that aims to meet consumers where they already are. Once upon a time, we queued for airplane tickets at the
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airport. Then we visited travel agents. Next, we tentatively embraced the then-alien World Wide Web. Now booking a ticket by tapping your phone doesn’t seem strange at all. This rapid progression of technology has trained us to make the leap from in-person transactions to live chats in a series of baby steps. One advantage of engaging passengers in an instant messaging chat is that the discussion is preserved, using an architecture already in place. Don’t want to build a customer management tool from scratch? Cool, just punt it to the multibilliondollar company that has already done it, and see where the two of you can connect. An added benefit is that your customer doesn’t have to repeat their whole story each time they switch service agents: The thread can be passed along and read at a glance, a recipe for reduced frustration all around.
Airlines On Board In Asia especially, airlines are increasingly opening accounts with instant messaging apps as a means to reach passengers.
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travel goes mobile “It’s a multi-device, mobile-first world,” said Simrat Sawhney, Facebook Travel and E-Commerce strategist, during her presentation at the APEX Asia conference last year. The rise of the smartphone and tablet is about as seismic a shift in the travel industry as was the rise of the Internet itself, and that requires a rethinking of customer engagement. “For many travel suppliers, [the shift to mobile] means an opportunity to strengthen or reestablish customer relationships that have been eroded by other intermediaries,” Facebook’s global head of Travel, Lee McCabe, said in a recent article he coauthored with the Boston Consulting Group. “For intermediaries, it means rethinking their offerings to protect the positions they have established on the PC.” >
WhatsApp The world’s most popular messaging app, having exceeded one billion monthly active users. KLM, Transavia
facebook messenger Messaging app spun off from Facebook that aims to usurp texting and do so much more. KLM
LINE Japan’s all-in-one, sticker-crazed social networking app. All Nippon Airways, Thai Airways
Snapchat Video messenger popular for its ephemeral “snaps” that disappear after being viewed. Aer Lingus, Air New Zealand, American Airlines, Virgin America, WOW Air
WeChat China’s answer to instant messaging and social networking, referred to nationally as Weixin. AirAsia, Air China, British Airways, China Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines, Jeju Air, KLM, Lufthansa, Skyteam, South African Airways, Spring Airlines
QQ China’s instant messaging platform, predecessor of WeChat. Air China, Air New Zealand, British Airways, Capital Airlines, China Southern Airlines, China West Air, Emirates, Eva Air, Hainan Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines, Juneyao Airlines, Lucky Air, Okay Airways, Shandong Air, Shenzhen Air, Spring Airlines, Tianjin Air, Xiamen Air
KakaoTalk The one-stop-shop networking app of South Korea. Asiana Airlines, Jin Air, Korean Air
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PREMIUM EUROPEAN FOOTBALL INFLIGHT. LIVE. EXCLUSIVE. ON SPORT 24.
Messenger
“It’s a multi-device, mobile-first world.” Simrat Sawhney Facebook
Current modes of B2C communication are fragmented. Airlines advertise special offers widely (and mostly impersonally), socially and through e-blasts. Customers engage on Twitter, by phone, e-mail, what have you. Referencing more than one of these threads at any one time often results in a tangled proposition. But, according to McCabe, bringing these threads into a single place provides mutual benefits for both brand and consumer. “When there’s a single string for the conversation, there’s no need to dig through a bunch of text messages or e-mails,” he said in an interview with McKinsey & Company. “Travelers want to be able to respond to messages, look at special offers or download their tickets in a central spot.” Facebook wants to be that spot. There are precedents to Facebook’s ambition, though: WeChat, the instant messaging app popular in China, lets users do everything within the app, from banking to booking taxis to checking in for flights. “There are more than 468 million monthly active users on WeChat who are checking it many times a day,” said Dodo Su from China Southern’s Products and Management division at the most recent APEX Asia conference. “In 2013, we became the first Chinese carrier to launch an account on the chatting service. Now, we’ve developed over 20 functionalities on this account.” 118
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Last December, Facebook introduced a transportation feature integrated with ridehailing company Uber, so Messenger users could summon a car directly from Facebook’s app. But Facebook has a long way to go before reaching the level of services already offered by its antecedents, and it knows that. Messenger executive David Marcus told Wired that these are only “the first baby steps in a series of millions of steps.” What does Facebook – or indeed any company – get out of partnerships such as these? Messenger and WhatsApp have more combined users than Facebook itself: A huge audience for businesses willing to insinuate themselves into their customers’ daily communication routines. WhatsApp has ditched its freemium model, very likely as its parent chases much, much bigger fish. Essentially, Facebook is starting to behave like a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company, with all the customer-funneling that that entails. “If it provides value to the customer and the airline, it’s a win-win,” said David Meyer, Qantas Airways’ Category manager, at APEX Asia. “These tools need to be meaningful to everyone, and those are the ones that will rise to the top.”
rise, robots, rise We can’t discuss instant messaging at scale without also talking about artificial intelligence (AI). Indeed, IM and AI go together like peanut butter and Nutella. Zuckerberg has been spending many sleepless nights hacking away at an AI that he envisions to be like Tony Stark’s AI, J.A.R.V.I.S. (Just A Rather Very Intelligent System) from Iron Man. Ultimately, AI has a reserved seat on the chat train. When you have enough end users contacting your business, you need a smart – very smart – way to manage all that traffic. Your social media team will look like frantic 1940s switchboard operators before too long, unless you automate things
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hello, i’m ana
Ana is Copa Airlines’ customer service expert – and a chatbot. She responds quickly, in English, Spanish and Portuguese, offering relevant website links to travelers’ frequently asked questions.
good things come in small packages
To lure its Sina Weibo followers to WeChat, British Airways launched a Chinese New Year campaign, rewarding its first 2014 WeChat followers with red pockets, which are traditionally exchanged between family members, filled with promotional coupons worth $50.
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Messenger
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More airline stickers, chatbots and snaps this way: > apex.aero/ socialcampaigns
stickers as smooth as silk
Thai Airways launched two limited-edition sticker sets (supersized emoji packs) on Line, the messaging app popular in Thailand, Taiwan and Japan. It features caricatures of its pilots, flight attendants and aircraft saying: “OMG,” “thank you,” “love,” “sweet dreams” and “ha, ha, ha.”
classic board game Go. While easier to learn than chess (the game of choice to test AI), the game has around 10 times as many potential moves per turn, so it’s considered a stiffer test of an AI’s, well, intelligence. It’s a start, but Google is much further along. The Google AI, named DeepMind, has recently defeated the European Go champion in five straight games. Of course, you program a bot that’s smart enough to beat a grandmaster so that it can be smart enough to deal with a business traveler trying to change a complicated itinerary on the way to the airport. Your bot can’t just be good – it has to be great. The humans in charge of an airline’s instant messaging-based communications have to trust that their bots have their backs. Businesses have discovered instant messaging as a way to engage customers beyond the sales pitch. Passengers can communicate in a meaningful way with the airlines at any point in the journey without changing their chat habits. Meanwhile, airline employees have never had a better excuse to use their smartphones at their desks.
will flirt for followers
WOW Air, the Icelandic discount carrier, took to the dating app Tinder to announce its routes from Montreal and Toronto to Reykjavik, encouraging that flirting would increase the chances of scoring free flights. The airline used its Snapchat account to share some of the sexier exchanges.
whatsapp integration
Integrating customer service with the world’s most widely used messaging app, KLM tested a virtual assistant on WhatsApp with 100 of its frequent flyers, answering queries about upgrades and seat availability. The airline saw shorter and more frequent back and forth, akin to chatting with friends.
beat this, siri
XiaoIce is an intelligent personal assistant (IPA) developed by Microsoft for China Eastern Airlines. It allows passengers to connect to flight crew, other passengers, even friends on the ground. XiaoIce responds in a conversational tone similar to Apple’s Siri. The IPA has been adopted by WeChat and by Line, where it is known as Rinna.
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like support triage, complaint management and, eventually, sales funnels. The meteoric rise of productivity app Slack has also normalized chatbots, which have actually been around for a long time. Old-school Internet users likely remember IRC (Internet Relay Chat), and the creation of simple bots to help you work more efficiently. Now bots have gone prime time, alerting a company’s team members to changes in their social media and online support-desk environments. To be useful, though, a bot has to be “rather very intelligent.” Today, Facebook’s AI is getting close to besting an amateur human player at the
“If it provides value to the customer and the airline, it’s a win-win.” David Meyer Qantas
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Skycast Solutions Fuels the Tablet Revolution with the Latest in Portable IFE. The most capable low cost portable IFE device is powered by Windows and flying high on Alaska Airlines.
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Travelogue
Words From the Window Seat With well over 120,000 followers on Instagram, this flight attendant’s motivational words reach more than just her passengers.
photo: latinstock
by Taylor Tippett
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Travelogue
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Follow the author on Instagram > @taylortippett
Y
ou should know that I believe flying has magical powers. A little while ago, I realized I wanted to be immersed in something that involved meeting people and traveling my heart out. So the dream and journey of becoming a flight attendant began. After a lot of interviews and paperwork, and an intense three months of training, I became a flight attendant in April 2014. Early one morning, a little over a year ago, I started my day off with a heavy feeling. I was overwhelmed by the burdens in my life, battling through self-doubt, fear and unhealthy relationships that were weighing me down. On this not-so-great day, I had an earlymorning flight to catch. I spent my morning how most mornings go when flying: I got ready really quickly, threw on my uniform, grabbed coffee, met the crew downstairs, set off to the airport and prepared for what was mostly an empty flight. During the flight, I found a free seat in the back row, and in my downtime I began writing about and dwelling on my heavy feeling. I was thinking about how kindness matters, and that in order to be kind to others, you have to start with yourself. I sipped on my morning coffee, looked out the window, and in that moment, something inside me clicked. There is absolutely nothing in the entire universe that compares to the early-morning sunrise 30,000 feet above our normal lives that go on below. I grabbed my small notepad and wrote the words “Be kind to yourself” with a black Sharpie. On a whim – with the morning sun pouring in – I taped it to the window and snapped a picture of it.
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I decided in that moment that this was the beginning of something. I started a small photo series where I’d take a quote, story, something I was learning, or piece of advice and turn it into a small phrase, write it on a piece of paper, tape it to a window, snap a picture and share it. After taking a picture, I’d leave the note in the seatback pocket near the safety card for someone to find. On Instagram, I’d share the photo and why it was relevant in my life. >
photos: Courtesy of Taylor Tippett
You should know that I believe flying has magical powers.
from 30,000, with love
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I write these notes for the same reason I became a flight attendant. So, I did it again. My second note read: “Make today rad.” The third: “Be the reason someone feels loved.” Some are silly, some are deep and true, and some are just meant to make others smile. Each photo brought in new likes, comments, followers. And with that, #WordsFromTheWindowSeat was born. I didn’t even have to give the name much thought, because it just made sense. People were getting it. If you click on the hashtag on Instagram now, there are over 600 pictures shared
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by passengers who have created their own notes while traveling. I have heard stories from people who have lost loved ones, from people who have found notes on flights and from people who have found glimmers of love and hope while flying. People feel heard and accepted when they can relate to another’s pain. People feel loved and wanted with a simple word of kindness. And people feel joy when they read stories that speak life. My inbox began to overflow with e-mails from people letting me know how much they relate, and how much the words mean to them. My Instagram follower count grew in excess of 100,000. The Discovery Channel approached me to do a small video for its series Seeker Stories, and with that, #WordsFromTheWindowSeat started getting national attention. ABC News, The Today Show, Good Morning America and so many more took an interest in my little notes.
carry the message forward I write these notes for the same reason I became a flight attendant, to meet people and travel my heart out. I believe that we can impact people’s lives with even the tiniest, smallest gesture. For me, it’s sharing glimpses of what I’m working through and taping it on the window of an airplane. Your voice and your kindness matters. You have the opportunity, every single day, to turn someone’s bad day – like the one I had – around. Remember that while at work. Remember that while traveling on an airplane. Remember that in all you do.
Tippett first used the hashtag #WordsFromTheWindowSeat in 2014. There are now more than 650 posts with the tag.
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Upcoming APEX Events
For the most up-to-date event calendar visit > apex.aero
new location!
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multimedia market 18–20 April 2016 Amsterdam, Netherlands #APEXMarket
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tec conference 8–9 June 2016 Los Angeles, USA #APEXTEC
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multimedia market 18–20 April 2016 Amsterdam, Netherlands #APEXMarket tec conference 8–9 June 2016 Los Angeles, USA #APEXTEC
3 expo 2016 24–27 October 2016 Singapore #APEXEXPO
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expo 2016 24–27 Oct. 2016 Singapore #APEXEXPO
2017–2018 EXPO Dates: 2017 – Long Beach, CA USA 25–28 September 2018 – Boston, MA USA 24–27 September
Tweeting from one of our upcoming events? Be sure to use the designated hashtag so other members can join the conversation!
Follow us on Twitter > @theapexassoc
next up: Summer Blockbuster Issue 2016: volume 6, edition 3
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On the heels of APEX MultiMedia Market and APEX TEC, and looking ahead to APEX’s South America Conference in Brazil and the Summer Olympic Games, entertainment and the hottest trends in the southern hemisphere will take center stage in the next issue. We also take a side trip to Africa to introduce you to Nollywood – Nigeria’s up-and-coming film industry with sky-high ambitions. With competition heating up among the world’s low-cost carriers, we take a deep dive into the segment’s newest in-flight entertainment solutions. Stay tuned for more!
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Running the Show: Éric Lauzon on MultiMedia Market
For more information visit > apex.aero
Ahead of APEX MultiMedia Market, April 18–20 in Amsterdam, we caught up with Éric Lauzon, co-chair of the event, manager of Multimedia Entertainment for Air Canada and APEX Board member, to discuss what he thinks will be the conference’s key showstopper for those in the in-flight entertainment (IFE) business.
photo: Kendall green
What distinguishes this event from others? APEX MultiMedia Market offers attendees a level of intimacy and a unique focus on IFE content. Today, the definition of IFE content is much broader than pure entertainment content, as it also includes various applications, games, user interfaces, etc. The APEX MultiMedia Market is usually held in Europe where airlines get a chance to meet up with their favorite content vendors and discover new ones that they can rarely meet in their local market. What is the primary benefit for airlines attending the MultiMedia Market? The main benefit for airlines is to be exposed to new sources of content that provide an international flair. At this show, we’re kept up-to-date on the upcoming blockbusters and we can also meet smaller distributors from France, Italy, Germany and other countries that often have interesting local content to enrich the IFE library of large global airlines. How do you envision this event evolving alongside the airline content industry? Content is often what differentiates one airline from another. I’m a true believer that airlines and their content service providers will continue to search and license content gems, as the wealth of their IFE offerings makes each one of them unique. Also, the installation of in-flight Wi-Fi systems will revolutionize the airline content industry, as it will open the door to myriad new possibilities, while offering airlines a new way to distribute content to passengers – in a similar fashion to how they consume entertainment content at home.
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Technology is changing fast, as are regional regulations. It’s a lot for any single company to take in. With regional events and meetings around the globe, APEX gives you easy resources for keeping ahead of the curve. APEX regional events and meetings are an invaluable resource for members around the world. From in-flight innovations to crucial technical details that shape the passenger experience industry, APEX educational programming covers it all.
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apex tec los angeles, us June 8–9, 2016 APEX continues to lead the charge on practical industry standards and crucial technical updates that keep members in the know. And this summer, we’re going big. In line with recent efforts to collaborate with like-minded groups, this summer’s APEX Technology Educational Conference will colocate with the Global Connected Aircraft Summit (June 6–8). Hosted by the APEX Technology Committee, TEC events are among the most respected in the industry, setting the standard for airline passenger technology, while providing crucial guidance, analysis and trend reporting on critical technology issues. Delegates at APEX TEC will hear thoughtleading presentations from within and outside the airline industry on cutting-edge technologies. Newly announced speakers include C-level executives from Finnair, Qantas Airways, Coin and more.
For more information visit > apex.aero
The colocation of APEX TEC and the Global Connected Aircraft Summit will provide attendees the opportunity to maximize the value of their participation over the four days. “By colocating APEX TEC with the Global Connected Aircraft Summit, we will be able to bring our distinctive offerings to a broader airline audience than ever before, while continuing to advance technological standards for our industry,” says Joe Leader, APEX CEO. Attendees will have expanded opportunities to meet fellow industry members, airline executives, cybersecurity professionals, technologists and subject matter experts. Attendees will also be able to hear from both groups’ knowledgeable speakers and leaders about the future of aerospace industry connectivity and evolving passenger needs. Discounted registration to the Global Connected Aircraft Summit is being offered to APEX TEC attendees. To see the agenda, or register, visit apex.aero.
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APEX Ramps Up for APEC TEC in Hollywood
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EXPO Anticipated to Be Largest PaxEx Event in Asia APEX is revving up for what is expected to be the largest and most comprehensive passenger experience tradeshow Asia has seen. APEX EXPO, October 24–27, 2016 in Singapore, has partnered with Aircraft Interiors Expo Asia (AIX Asia) and Future Travel Experience (FTE Asia Expo) for a conference fully representative of the air travel experience from start to finish.
APEX leadership made an investment in this growing region by hosting three regional meetings over the past few years, and is excited to further commit to Asia. This new collaboration represents a strategic shift toward working with like-minded groups to the benefit of the industry as a whole.
why you cannot afford to miss this event > A conference on this scale is certain to draw some of the biggest names – and the most airline buyers – in the passenger experience industry. If your brand isn’t in the mix, you will be missing out.
photo: Marina Bay
> Asia is emerging as a crucial hub for the future of the passenger experience industry. The time to start making inroads is now, and EXPO gives you an incredible opportunity. > EXPO has been growing into new sectors in recent years and we are excited to launch the Future Technology Pavilion, featuring major tech players as well as smaller companies ready to jump into the airline market. This year’s show builds on that progress and gives you valuable exposure to more companies than ever before. With the addition of FTE and AIX, attendees will have access to more representation of the ground experience and interiors, in addition to the full PaxEx APEX floor. Airline Passenger Experience Association
With the expanded tradeshow footprint, attendees can expect the same popular event features as always, including worldclass keynote presentations from top airline and vendor leaders and unmatched networking opportunities. Registration for APEX EXPO will open in the summer of 2016. Visit the EXPO section
of apex.aero for more information, including updates leading up to the event and how your company can be a sponsor! Contact info@apex.aero with any questions you may have. Connect. Learn. Create together.
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APEX Heart Awards Honor Acts of Kindness At APEX EXPO in Portland last year, APEX CEO Joe Leader proudly presented a new awards program from APEX that shines a light on the industry’s unsung PaxEx heroes. The APEX Heart Awards honor airline employees from around the globe who go the extra mile for passengers and elevate the air travel experience. Just in time for the holidays, we wanted to share with you one of the many heartwarming stories we came across this year.
It all started on a flight from Seattle to Phoenix when Southwest Airlines flight attendant Mark Murphy went beyond the call of duty to brighten the flight experience of a two-year-old passenger named Leo, and his mother. Upon learning he was deaf, Mark communicated with Leo using American Sign Language (ASL). “He just kind of brightened up and so I said hello to him a couple of times because he responded to it every time I signed to him,” Murphy tells APEX Media. Murphy’s efforts were appreciated by Southwest’s CEO, Gary Kelly, who tweeted, “Mark, your skill with sign language truly showed your #SouthwestHeart. Thanks for making Leo’s day, and mine as well.”
For more information visit > apex.aero
“We love that the APEX Heart Awards celebrate what Southwest Airlines has always put at the forefront – the hearts of our employees,” says Teresa Laraba, Southwest’s senior vice-president of Customers and Culture. Southwest honored Murphy in a special surprise ceremony. “APEX proudly recognizes Southwest Airlines flight attendant Mark Murphy with an APEX Silver Heart Award for delivering a very unique and personal passenger experience that will forever shape how Leo and his family think of flying,” says Joe Leader, APEX CEO. And from all of us at APEX, we look forward to another year filled with heartwarming stories from the skies.
“A great story about #PaxEx that goes above and beyond with heart!” Joe Leader, APEX CEO
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photo: southwest airlines
Southwest flight attendant Mark Murphy receives recognition at a surprise ceremony.
The unseen natural world Let your passengers uncover the secrets of the wilderness on Let’s Go Wild and other fascinating documentaries.
Deutsche Welle | 53110 Bonn | Germany ife@dw.com
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Emphasurispremier content partner in Asia specialising in movie
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2016-02-25 9:20 AM
25.02.16 10:28
IFSA
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IFSA Releases Fourth Edition of World Food Safety Guidelines The International Flight Services Association (IFSA) has released the highly anticipated fourth edition of the World Food Safety Guidelines (WFSG), a comprehensive guide designed to serve as a valuable resource to assist the onboard industry in meeting and exceeding food safety standards. Onboard food and beverage safety continues to be a matter of utmost importance for the in-flight industry. Meals served on airlines are some of the most thoroughly regulated prepared foods in the world food supply. With more than 700 million airline meals served every year, it is imperative that IFSA provides an updated document that enables easy access for all companies involved in maintaining the safety and quality of the food served when traveling. “IFSA’s fourth edition of the WFSG reflects the best food safety science and standards put forth by the world's leading countries and international standard setting organizations,” said Suzanne Fisher, co-chair
of IFSA’s Government Affairs and Education Committee. “This edition includes updates and additions for guidance on Critical Control Points and Control Points, allergen control, return catering, contacts for global food safety training support and more.” The WFSG are written with flexibility in mind to accommodate each sector and to keep up with a rapidly changing industry. The WFSG and accompanying Audit Tool are core elements, ensuring the safety of passengers and crew in the provisioning of food and beverages for onboard service. “We took great pride in reaching out to industry leaders over the widespread sectors to gather information to make this edition of the guidelines easy to understand and implement,” said Robin Moore Swensen, co-chair of IFSA’s Government Affairs and Education Committee. To help industry colleagues understand changes to the WFSG and to have their questions answered, IFSA will
offer additional training and educational sessions at its Annual Conference and Expo in Chicago, Illinois, September 19–21, 2016. IFSA will make a Spanish version of the WFSG available later this year. We would also like to extend our gratitude to the dedicated members of the Government Affairs and Education Committee, who made the WFSG possible. To download the World Food Safety Guidelines and the updated Audit Tool free of charge, please visit our website.
For more information visit
photo: IFSA
> ifsanet.com
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IFSA
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IFSA Foundation Breaks Scholarship Award Record The International Flight Services Association Foundation offers multiple scholarships to help students and current onboard service professionals further their education. The Foundation Scholarships are awards given to exceptional students across the globe and they cover tuition, books, living expenses and associated costs with college. This year, the IFSA Foundation raised a record-breaking $160,000 to be awarded in scholarships. To apply for a scholarship visit ifsanet.com/page/scholarships. Applications will be due April 30, 2016. Thank you to all our sponsors who made this possible.
2016 Scholarships >> Sue Ling Gin Charitable Trust ($10,000) >> Alphonse Joseph ($5,000) >> DFS, Inc. ($5,000) >> Flying Food Group ($5,000) >> Gourmet Foods ($5,000 each; two scholarships available) >> Harvey & Laura Alpert ($5,000 each; two scholarships available) >> Intervine ($5,000) >> John & Ginnie Long ($5,000) >> King Nut Companies ($5,000) >> Michael J. Devine Memorial ($5,000) >> Oakfield Farms Solutions ($5,000) >> United Airlines ($5,000 each; two scholarships available)
>> Wessco International ($5,000) >> AMI ($4,500) >> McGuire & Associates ($3,500) >> Gate Gourmet ($2,250) >> James T. Pfannkuche ($2,250) >> Ken Samara ($2,250) >> Air Fayre ($2,045) >> Fleury Michon/Delta DailyFood ($2,000) >> JetBlue Airways ($1,500 each; two scholarships available) >> FreemanGroup ($1,363 each; two scholarships available) >> Infinite Peripherals ($1,136 each; two scholarships available)
Save the Date: Join IFSA in Chicago IFSA will be hosting its annual conference and expo September 19–21, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. Join hundreds of airline, caterer and supplier executives from around the globe committed to elevating the onboard passenger experience. This is your opportunity to build relationships with decisionmakers at our premier three-day event.
HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: >> Networking with the who’s who of the industry >> Tradeshow featuring the latest in in-flight passenger experience developments >> Chef’s Competition >> New-Member Pavilion >> Education Sessions on the World Food Safety Guidelines
Airline Passenger Experience Association
For more information, contact ifsainbox@kellencompany.com or visit IFSAnet.com.
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What to look for in the months ahead
Coming Attractions 10 Cloverfield Lane w
Director: Dan Trachtenberg Cast: John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher Jr.
Distributor: Paramount Pictures Contact: Joan Filippini, Vince Cruz
Which Grown Ups actor hosted the Academy Awards this year? find answers at apex.aero/trivia
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A Bigger Splash
Director: Luca Guadagnino Cast: Matthias Schoenaerts, Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Dakota Johnson A famous rock star and a filmmaker vacationing on the idyllic sun-drenched island of Pantelleria are disrupted by the unexpected visit of an old friend and his daughter, creating a whirlwind of jealousy, passion and ultimately, danger for everyone involved. Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Contact: Julian Levin * ONLY US, Bahamas, Bermuda
All Roads Lead to Rome w
Director: Ella Lemhagen Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Raoul Bova Maggie is a single mother and college writing teacher from New York City. She embarks on a journey with her daughter to Tuscany where she runs into Luca, a former lover who is still a bachelor and lives with his mother. The two spend time together and develop a new understanding of each other. Distributor: Entertainment In Motion Contact: Lynda Harriss
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All the Way
Director: Jay Roach Cast: Bryan Cranston, Anthony Mackie, Melissa Leo, Bradley Whitford, Stephen Root, Marque Richardson A riveting behind-the-scenes look at President Lyndon B. Johnson’s tumultuous first year in office as he navigates the escalation of the Vietnam War and balances opposing interests to launch his landmark civil rights bill and win election to his first full presidential term. Distributor: HBO Contact: Kalliope Diakos
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photos: © Paramount Pictures; © 2016 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved; AMBI Distribution; Hilary Bronwyn Gayle / HBO
After a car accident, a young woman wakes up in a cellar and fears she has been abducted by a survivalist who tells her a chemical attack has left the outside world uninhabitable. Uncertain what to believe, she decides to escape – despite the dangers she may face outside.
photos: Sony Pictures Releasing; Bilder © 2016 Pathé Films AG; Eros International Media Ltd; Eros International Media Ltd.; © 2016 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved; © 2016 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved
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Angry Birds
Directors: Fergal Reilly, Clay Kaytis Cast: Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Kate McKinnon, Bill Hader When an island populated by happy, flightless birds is visited by mysterious green piggies, it’s up to three unlikely outcasts, Red, Chuck and Bomb, to figure out what the pigs are up to. Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing Contact: Rana Matthes
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Babysitting 2
Directors: Philippe Lacheau, Nicolas Benamou Cast: Christian Clavier, Philippe Lacheau, Alice David, Vincent Desagnat, Tarek Boudali, Elodie Fontan The gang’s going on vacation – to Brazil! Lovebirds Sonia and Franck have invited their buddies to the luxury hotel owned by Sonia’s pompous father. Franck secretly plans to propose to Sonia, but his attempts to win her father’s approval are disastrous – and with friends like his, who needs enemies?
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Bajirao Mastani
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali Cast: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra The tale of romance between an Indian general, Bajirao I, and Mastani, a Muslim princess. Distributor: Eros International Media Ltd. Contact: Prashant Gaonkar
What is the name of Charlize Theron’s character in Mad Max?
Distributor: Skeye Contact: Isabelle Bégin
find answers at apex.aero/trivia
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Bajrangi Bhaijaan
Director: Kabir Khan Cast: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Harshaali Malhotra A man with a magnanimous spirit tries to take a young, mute Pakistani girl back to her homeland to reunite her with her family. Distributor: Eros International Media Ltd. Contact: Prashant Gaonkar
Barbershop: The Next Cut w
Director: Malcolm D. Lee Cast: Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, Regina Hall, Common, Sean Patrick Thomas, Eve Calvin’s barbershop has undergone some major changes. The once male sanctuary is now co-ed, with the ladies bringing their own flavor, drama and gossip. When their community takes a turn for the worse, the crew comes together to not only save the shop, but their neighborhood. Distributor: Warner Bros. Contact: Jeff Crawford
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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice w
Director: Zack Snyder Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne Fearing the actions of a god-like superhero left unchecked, Gotham City’s formidable vigilante takes on Metropolis’s revered savior. But with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat arises, putting mankind in danger. Distributor: Warner Bros. Contact: Jeff Crawford
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Belles familles (Families)
The Brothers Grimsby
Captain America: Civil War
Director: Jean-Paul Rappeneau Cast: Mathieu Amalric, Marine Vacth, Gilles Lellouche
Director: Louis Leterrier Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Strong, Isla Fisher, Rebel Wilson, Gabourey Sidibe, Penélope Cruz
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Emily VanCamp
Nobby has everything a Grimsby man could want – except his little brother Sebastian. Unaware he is an MI6 agent, Nobby uncovers a plot that puts the world in danger. On the run and wrongfully accused, Sebastian realizes if he is going to save the world, he will need the help of its biggest idiot.
When the government sets up a body to oversee the Avengers, the team splinters into two camps – one for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other supporting government oversight and accountability.
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While visiting his mother and brother in Paris, Jérôme is thrown into the legal complications of the family estate. Old friends, memories and secrets emerge as Jérôme uncovers the details of his father’s activities after his parents’ separation. Meanwhile, he’s falling in love with his best friend’s girlfriend. Distributor: Penny Black Media Contact: Cathie Trotta * excluding France, DOM-TOM, French-speaking Africa, Switzerland, US
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The Confirmation
Director: Bob Nelson Cast: Clive Owen, Jaeden Lieberher, Maria Bello, Patton Oswalt, Stephen Tobolowsky, Robert Forster
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Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing Contact: Rana Matthes
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Distributor: Disney Studios Non-Theatrical Contact: Ruth Walker
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Dad’s Army
Director: Oliver Parker Cast: Bill Nighy, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Gambon, Tom Courtenay
A down and out carpenter is offered a job that could turn his life around, only to have his irreplaceable toolbox stolen. He must track down the thieves before the weekend is over with an unlikely partner – his young son whom he’s disappointed one too many times.
As World War II nears its end, the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard receives a visit from a beautiful female journalist just as they begin to suspect there may be a German spy among their ranks. The Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard may finally have an opportunity to impact the war.
Distributor: Penny Black Media Contact: Cathie Trotta
Distributor: Universal Pictures Contact: Phyllis Bagdadi
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Demolition
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, Chris Cooper, Judah Lewis, Polly Draper, Wass Stevens Davis Mitchell struggles after losing his wife in a car crash. What starts as a complaint letter to a vending machine company turns into a series of letters that catch the attention of customer service rep, Karen Mareno. Amidst emotional and financial burdens of her own, the two form an unlikely connection. Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Contact: Julian Levin * US Only
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photos: © Jérôme Prébois; Sony Pictures Releasing; © 2016 Marvel; Penny Black Media; © 2016 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved; © 2016 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved
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(Dis)Honesty
Director: Yael Melamede Cast: Dan Ariely It’s human nature to lie; we all do it! Interweaving groundbreaking experiments from celebrated behavioral economist Dan Ariely, with personal stories from individuals affected by the unraveling of their lies, Ariely and a team of scientists uncover our propensity to be dishonest – sometimes even unknowingly. Distributor: Terry Steiner International Contact: Nadja Rutkowski
Distance
Eddie the Eagle
Directors: Tan Shijie, Xin Yukun, Sivaroj Kongsakul Cast: Chen Bolin, Jiang Wenli, Tony Yo-ning Yang A businessman is intrigued by an elderly worker and investigates his life. A young father receives a letter that brings him to a foreign land. A visiting professor sets a student’s heart fluttering – different characters, different relationships; stories about the distances between humans.
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Elvis & Nixon
Director: Dexter Fletcher Cast: Taron Egerton, Huge Jackman, Christopher Walken
Director: Liza Johnson Cast: Michael Shannon, Kevin Spacey, Colin Hanks, Johnny Knoxville
Inspired by true events, Michael Edwards is “Eddie the Eagle,” the most famous ski jumper in British history, whose never-say-die approach to the sport celebrates the human spirit and resilience in the face of extraordinary odds and challenges.
On December 21,1970, the king of rock ’n’ roll showed up, unannounced, on the lawn of the White House requesting a meeting with President Richard Nixon. He had a very urgent request: to be sworn in as an undercover federal agent at large.
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Contact: Julian Levin * excluding Ireland, UK
The Divergent Series: Allegiant w
Distributor: Encore Inflight Limited Contact: Edwin Cheung
* excluding US, Canada, Israel
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Distributor: Jaguar Distribution Corp. Contact: France Capor
Director: Robert Schwentke Cast: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Zoë Kravitz, Ansel Elgort, Naomi Watts After the earth-shattering revelations of Insurgent, Tris must escape with Four beyond the wall that encircles Chicago to finally discover the shocking truth of what lies behind it. Distributor: ENTERTAINMENT IN MOTION Contact: LYNDA HARRISS
How many Barbershop movies are there? find answers at apex.aero/trivia
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Director: Hideyuki Hirayama Cast: Junichi Okada, Hiroshi Abe, Machiko Ono Makoto Fukamachi finds an old camera on a backstreet in Nepal that might determine whether George Mallory was the first person to successfully climb Mount Everest in 1924. Pursuing the camera’s past, Makoto meets Joji Habu, a legendary alpinist living in isolation due to his reckless personality. Distributor: Encore Inflight Limited Contact: Edwin Cheung * excluding Japan
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photos: © (Dis)Honesty – The Truth About Lies; © 2015 Giraffe Pictures; © Murray Close; © 2016 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved; © 2015 Bloom Media; © 2016 Everest – The Summit Of The Gods – Film Partners
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JEFF CRAWFORD
jeff.crawford@warnerbros.com
ANGELICA McCOY angelica.mccoy@warnerbros.com wbnts.warnerbros.com
Š 2016 Warner Bros. Pictures. All rights reserved.
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Everybody Wants Some w
Director: Richard Linklater Cast: Blake Jenner, Tyler Hoechlin, Glen Powell, Wyatt Russell, Ryan Guzman, Juston Street Set in the world of 1980s college life, a college freshman experiences a fraternity-like lifestyle with his hard-partying teammates, who navigate their way through the freedoms and responsibilities of unsupervised adulthood.
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The Finest Hours
Director: Craig Gillespie Cast: Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Holliday Grainger, Eric Bana, Ben Foster A heroic action-thriller based on the extraordinary true story of the greatest small boat rescue in Coast Guard history. It transports audiences to the Pendleton rescue mission in 1952 by Coast Guard ships, wherein two oil tankers were split asunder by a nor’easter. Distributor: Disney Studios Non-Theatrical Contact: Ruth Walker
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Gods of Egypt
Director: Alex Proyas Cast: Gerard Butler, Nikolaj CosterWaldau, Brenton Thwaites, Chadwick Boseman, Courtney Eaton, Geoffrey Rush In order to bring his true love back to life, a clever mortal thief teams up with a powerful and vengeful god in order to stop the merciless god of darkness, who hopes to destroy both this life and the afterlife. Distributor: Entertainment In Motion Contact: Lynda Harriss
Distributor: Paramount Pictures Contact: Joan Filippini, Vince Cruz
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Going in Style
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Hail, Caesar!
Director: Zach Braff Cast: Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Alan Arkin, Ann-Margret, Peter Serafinowicz, John Ortiz
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen Cast: George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Tilda Swinton
Lifelong buddies Willie, Joe and Al, decide to buck retirement and step off the straight and narrow when their pension fund becomes a corporate casualty. Desperate to pay the bills, the three embark on a daring bid to knock off the very bank that absconded with their money.
In 1950s Hollywood, Eddie Mannix is Capital Pictures’ head of physical production and the studio fixer. His job is to maintain the clean reputation of the company and its stars, keeping them free from controversy. But when the studio megastar disappears, Mannix has to deal with more than just the fix.
Distributor: Warner Bros. Contact: Jeff Crawford
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Hero
Director: Nikhil Advani Cast: Athiya Shetty, Sooraj Pancholi A boy and a girl find themselves stuck in a whirlpool of such intense love that they would do anything, go to any extent and face all odds for the one they love. Distributor: Eros International Media Ltd. Contact: Prashant Gaonkar
N: North america
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Name the boy-cub raised by wolves from The Jungle Book. find answers at apex.aero/trivia
Distributor: Universal Pictures Contact: Phyllis Bagdadi
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photos: Paramount Pictures; 2016 Disney Enterprises, Inc.; © Lisa Tomasetti; © 2016 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved; © 2016 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved; Eros International Media Ltd.
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ARRIVING SOON FROM
Phyllis Bagdadi Phyllis.Bagdadi@nbcuni.com
Cynthia Klar Cynthia.Klar@nbcuni.com
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High Strung
Director: Michael Damian Cast: Jane Seymour, Keenan Kampa, Nicholas Galitzine, Paul Freeman, Maia Morgenstern When a hip-hop violinist busking in the New York subway encounters a classical dancer on scholarship at the Manhattan Conservatory of the Arts, sparks fly. With the help of a dance crew, they must find common ground while preparing for a competition that could change their lives forever. Distributor: Jaguar Distribution Corp. Contact: France Capor
Independence Day: Resurgence w
Director: Roland Emmerich Cast: Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox, Brent Spiner Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet. But nothing can prepare them for the aliens’ unprecedented force. Only the ingenuity of a few men and women can bring the world back from the brink of extinction. Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Contact: Julian Levin
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The Jungle Book
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Keanu
Director: Peter Atencio Cast: Jordan Peele, Keegan-Michael Key, Tiffany Haddish, Method Man, Jason Mitchell, Luis Guzmán
Mowgli, a boy-cub raised in the jungle by a family of wolves, finds he is no longer welcome in the jungle when fearsome tiger Shere Khan threatens to eliminate him. Mowgli embarks on a captivating journey of self-discovery when he’s forced to abandon the only home he’s ever known.
Clarence and Rell, two cousins who live in the city, are far from streetwise. When Rell’s beloved kitten, Keanu, is catnapped, the straight-laced pair must impersonate ruthless killers in order to infiltrate a street gang and retrieve the purloined feline.
Distributor: Disney Studios Non-Theatrical Contact: Ruth Walker
Distributor: Warner Bros. Contact: Jeff Crawford
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James White
Director: Josh Mond Cast: Christopher Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott Mescudi, Makenzie Leigh, Ron Livingston James White is a troubled twentysomething trying to stay afloat in a frenzied New York City. As he retreats further into a hedonistic lifestyle, his mother’s battle with a serious illness forces him to assume more responsibility. James must find new reserves of strength or risk imploding completely. Distributor: Skeye Contact: Isabelle Bégin * excluding North America, France
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Director: Jon Favreau Cast: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Christopher Walken, Lupita Nyong’o, Idris Elba
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Knight of Cups
Director: Terrence Malick Cast: Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett The story of a man, temptations, celebrity and excess. Distributor: Terry Steiner International Contact: Nadja Rutkowski * excluding US
What winter Olympic sport is Eddie the Eagle known for? find answers at apex.aero/trivia
I: outside north amErica
W: WorldWide
Airline Passenger Experience Association
photos: © 2015 Bloom Media; © 2016 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved; 2015 © James White LLC; © 2016 Disney Enterprises, Inc.; © 2016 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved; © DOGWOOD PICTURES, LLC
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Ma Ma
Director: Julio Medem Cast: Penélope Cruz, Luis Tosar, Asier Etxeandia
Louder Than Bombs *
Director: Joachim Trier Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Amy Ryan, Gabriel Byrne, Isabelle Huppert, David Strathairn
An exhibition, celebrating photographer Isabelle Reed three years after her untimely death, reunites her sons Jonah and Conrad – and their father, who tries desperately to reconnect with his sons, as they struggle to reconcile their feelings about the woman they remember so differently. Distributor: Terry Steiner International Contact: Nadja Rutkowski * US, Canada
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Maya the Bee Movie
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A woman recently diagnosed with cancer forms an unexpected bond with a soccer scout whose wife has been gravely injured in a car accident. Distributor: Jaguar Distribution Corp. Contact: France Capor * excluding Canada, Spain, Australia, New Zealand
Distributor: Skeye Contact: Isabelle Bégin
find answers at apex.aero/trivia
*Worldwide (W), excluding North America, France, Scandinavia
The Meddler
The Dictator, Bruno and Borat are all roles played by which actor?
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Midnight Special
Directors: Alexs Stadermann Cast: Jacki Weaver, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Richard Roxburgh, Noah Taylor, Justine Clarke
Director: Lorene Scafaria Cast: Susan Sarandon, Rose Byrne, J.K. Simmons, Cecily Strong, Jerrod Carmichael, Michael McKean
Director: Jeff Daniels Cast: Michael Shannon, Kirsten Dunst, Joel Edgerton, Adam Driver, Sam Shepard, Jaeden Lieberher
Maya, a little bee with a big heart, believes the world is far too interesting to stay inside a hive, so she buzzes out into the meadow where she befriends a grasshopper, dung beetle and hornet. When the Queen’s royal jelly is stolen, it’s up to Maya and her bug buddies to save the day!
Marnie Minervini, a recent widow and eternal optimist, moves from New Jersey to Los Angeles to be closer to her daughter. Armed with an iPhone and a full bank account, Marnie sets out to make friends, find her purpose, and possibly open up to someone new.
Distributor: Jaguar Distribution Corp. Contact: France Capor
Distributor: Sony Pictures classics Contact: Rana Matthes
A father goes on the run to protect his son and uncover the truth behind the boy’s special powers. What starts as a race from religious extremists and local law enforcement escalates into a nationwide manhunt. Ultimately, his father risks everything to fulfill a destiny that could change the world.
* excluding Australia, New Zealand, Germany, German Sp. Austria, Switzerland, France, China, Hong Kong
DISTRIBUTION rights codes
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N: North america
I: outside north amErica
Distributor: Warner Bros. Contact: Jeff Crawford
W: WorldWide
Airline Passenger Experience Association
photos: © Motlys – Memento Films Production – Nimbus Film – Arte France Cinema 2015; © Jakob Ihre Mostly As; © 2015 SEVILLE INTERNATIONAL; © Studio 100 Media / Buzz Studios; Sony Pictures Releasing; © 2016 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved
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Miracles From Heaven w
photos: Sony Pictures Releasing; Sony Pictures Releasing; © 2015 Nagasaki: Memories Of My Son; Penny Black Media; Emphasis Video Entertainment Limited
Director: Patricia Riggen Cast: Jennifer Garner, Martin Henderson, John Carroll Lynch, Kylie Rogers, Eugenio Derbez, Queen Latifah Christy discovers her 10-year-old daughter Anna has a rare, incurable disease and becomes an advocate for her daughter’s healing. After Anna has a freak accident and falls three stories, a miracle unfolds and her dramatic rescue leaves medical specialists mystified, her family restored and their community inspired.
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Money Monster
Director: Jodie Foster Cast: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O’Connell, Dominic West, Giancarlo Esposito, Caitriona Balfe Lee Gates is a bombastic TV personality of a popular financial network show. But after he hawks a high-tech stock that crashes, an irate investor takes Gates and his crew hostage, live on air. Unfolding in real time, they must stay alive while uncovering the truth behind a tangle of big money lies. Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing Contact: Rana Matthes
Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing Contact: Rana Matthes
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Nagasaki: Memories of My Son w
Director: Yoji Yamada Cast: Sayuri Yoshinaga, Kazunari Ninomiya Nobuko works in Nagasaki, Japan, as a midwife. Her son Koji died three years earlier from the atomic bomb. On August 9, 1948, Koji appears in front of her and they reminisce about pleasant times. These happy, but bizarre moments seem eternal. Distributor: Emphasis Video Entertainment Limited Contact: Grace Lau * excluding Japan
Oddball
Director: Stuart McDonald Cast: Shane Jacobson, Alan Tudyk, Sarah Snook, Coco Jack Gillies Based on a true story about fox attacks threatening to close down a wild penguin sanctuary in a small Australian town, an eccentric chicken farmer teams up with his granddaughter to save the penguins using a very odd method… his rambunctious, trouble-making sheepdog.
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Our Times
Director: Frankie Chen Cast: Darren Wang, Joe Chen, Vivian Sung, Andy Lau
Distributor: Penny Black Media Contact: Cathie Trotta
Distributor: Emphasis Video Entertainment Limited Contact: Grace Lau
* excluding US, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Mainland China
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An ordinary girl, Truly, pines over the most popular guy at her high school while troublemaker Taiyu falls for the prettiest girl. Together, they help each other win their dream dates, evolving their friendship and learning a thing or two about true love along the way.
* excluding China
N: North america
I: outside north amErica
W: WorldWide
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Queen of the Desert w
photos: © 2015 Palmeras En La Nieve Aie / Nostromo Pictures SL; Penny Black Media; © Thibault Grabherr / Focus Features; © Paramount Pictures; Eros International Media Ltd.
Director: Werner Herzog Cast: Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Damian Lewis, Robert Pattinson
Palm Trees in the Snow w
Director: Fernando González Molina Cast: Mario Casas, Alain Hernández, Adriana Ugarte, Emilio Gutiérrez Caba, Macarena García
The accidental discovery of a long lost letter drives Clarence to travel from the snowy mountains of Spain to Africa. In the heart of a land as lush and seductive as it is dangerous, Clarence unearths a forbidden love story framed within turbulent historical circumstances. Distributor: Encore Inflight Limited Contact: Edwin Cheung
A chronicle of Gertrude Bell’s life: a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer and political attaché for the British Empire at the dawn of the twentieth century. Distributor: Penny Black Media Contact: Cathie Trotta
Name the Coen brothers film that Josh Brolin starred in before, Hail, Caesar!
* excluding US, Canada
* excluding North America, Spain
find answers at apex.aero/trivia
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Race
Same Kind of Different as Me
Sanam Teri Kasam
Director: Michael Carney Cast: Greg Kinnear, Renée Zellweger, Jon Voight, Djimon Hounsou
Directors: Radhika Rao, Vinay Sapru Cast: Harshvardhan Rane, Mawra Hocane
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Director: Stephen Hopkins Cast: Stephan James, Carice van Houten, Jeremy Irons, Jason Sudeikis, William Hurt Based on the true story of Jesse Owens, the legendary athletic superstar whose quest to become the greatest track and field athlete in history thrusts him onto the world stage at the 1936 Olympics, where he faces off against Adolf Hitler’s vision of Aryan supremacy. Distributor: Entertainment In Motion Contact: Lynda Harriss
International art dealer Ron Hall must befriend a dangerous homeless man in order to save his struggling marriage to his wife, a woman whose dreams will lead all three of them on the most remarkable journey of their lives.
A romantic musical of love, longing and loss exploring the journey that ensues when blue-blooded Inder, “who wanted to love no one,” crosses paths with Saru, “whom no one wanted to love.” All their lives they were waiting to meet, but they just didn’t know it.
Distributor: Paramount Pictures Contact: Joan Filippini, Vince Cruz
Distributor: Eros International Media Ltd. Contact: Prashant Gaonkar
DISTRIBUTION rights codes
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N: North america
I: outside north amErica
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HE DIDN’T SEE THE FUTURE. HE HEARD IT.
SM
SM
NEW HBO FILMS
ALL THE WAY
Contact: Kalliope.Diakos@HBO.com · 212-512-1741 ©2016 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved. HBO ® and related channels and service marks are the property of Home Box Office, Inc.
®
CONFIRMATION
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Sing Street
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Director: John Carney Cast: Jack Reynor, Aidan Gillen, Maria Doyle Kennedy
photos: The Weinstein Company; Eros International Media Ltd.; Samuel Goldwyn Films; © 2016 Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved; © 2015 Cattleya S.R.L. – La Chauve Souris
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Conor is trying to adjust to his new school where the kids are rough and the teachers are rougher. He finds hope in the mysterious and beautiful Raphina. With the hopes of winning her heart, he invites her to star in his band’s music videos. She agrees, and now Conor must deliver what he’s promised. Distributor: Terry Steiner International Contact: Nadja Rutkowski
Singh is Bliing
Director: Prabhu Dheva Cast: Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson Raftaar Singh spends his days dancing and jumping through fire hula-hoops at fairs in Bassi Pathana. While his mother caters to his appetite with home-cooked jalebis, his father asks Raftaar to choose a path – either get married or move to Goa and work under his father’s friend. Distributor: Eros International Media Ltd. Contact: Prashant Gaonkar
* excluding Australia, New Zealand
Which actress plays the lead role as a cancer-stricken mother in Julio Medem’s Ma Ma? find answers at apex.aero/trivia
Somm: Into the Bottle w
Director: Jason Wise Cast: Brian McClintic, Ian Cauble, DLynn Proctor, Dustin Wilson A rare glimpse inside the world of cult winemakers Jean Louis Chave, Aubert de Villaine (Domaine Romanee-Conti) and Robert Mondavi. Watch as some of the most storied bottles of wine are opened; the history, the vintage and the magic of these bottles discussed by the best in the business. Distributor: Terry Steiner International Contact: Nadja Rutkowski
Star Wars: The Force Awakens w
Director: J.J. Abrams Cast: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega Thirty years after defeating the Galactic Empire, Han Solo and his allies face a new threat from the evil Kylo Ren and his army of Stormtroopers. Distributor: Disney Studios Non-Theatrical Contact: Ruth Walker
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Suburra
Director: Stefano Sollima Cast: Pierfrancesco Favino, Elio Germano, Claudio Amendola, Greta Scarano
Samurai, a gangster, wants to turn the waterfront of a small Roman town into the new Atlantic City. All the local mob bosses have agreed to work for this common goal, but peace doesn’t last long, as a ferocious war between the gangs is about to wreck Samurai’s dream. Distributor: Encore Inflight Limited Contact: Edwin Cheung * excluding North America, Latin America, Italy, France, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Ireland
DISTRIBUTION rights codes
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N: North america
I: outside north amErica
W: WorldWide
volume 6, edition 2
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The Tiger
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Tale of Tales
Director: Matteo Garrone Cast: Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, Toby Jones, John C. Reilly, Shirley Henderson Jodie Foster directs this movie starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts.
From the bitter quest of a jealous Queen who forfeits the life of her husband, to two mysterious sisters who provoke the passion of a king, to a king obsessed with a giant flea, these stories weave the beautiful with the grotesque in a work of gothic imagination. Distributor: Jaguar Distribution Corp. Contact: France Capor
In the snowy woods of Mount Jirisan, a troop of Japanese soldiers are pursuing Korea’s last remaining wild tiger. They hire a former top hunter, who must match wits with the animal that no one has been able to capture. Will the hunter pit himself against Korea’s most sought-after wild beast? Distributor: Emphasis Video Entertainment Limited Contact: Grace Lau * excluding Korea
find answers at apex.aero/trivia
Touched With Fire w
Director: Paul Dalio Cast: Katie Holmes, Luke Kirby, Griffin Dunne, Bruce Altman, Christine Lahti Two poets with bipolar disorder channel their emotional extremes into art. Their chemistry is instant and intense, driving each other’s mania to new heights. Swinging from fantastical highs to tormented lows, they ultimately choose between sanity and love. Distributor: Encore Inflight Limited Contact: Edwin Cheung
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Tumbledown
Director: Sean Mewshaw Cast: Jason Sudeikis, Rebecca Hall, Dianna Agron, Joe Manganiello, Blythe Danner, Richard Masur Hannah is struggling to write the biography of her late husband, an acclaimed musician. When she meets Andrew, a brash, New York academic, she is skeptical of his motives, but they collaborate on the book, forcing them to confront the possibility their new lives may involve each other. Distributor: Entertainment In Motion Contact: Lynda Harriss
* excluding US, Canada
The Vanished Murderer w
Director: Law Chi Leung Cast: Sean Lau, Lam Ka Tung, Jiang Yiyan, Li Xiaolu Inspector Song is summoned to investigate the miraculous prison break of Yuan Fu in spite of his former romantic ties to her. His investigation leads to Gao who is monopolizing the industrial business in Hong City. As workers take their own lives, Song discovers the deaths lead to a university professor. Distributor: Emphasis Video Entertainment Limited Contact: Grace Lau * excluding China
DISTRIBUTION rights codes
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Airline Passenger Experience Association
photos: © 2015 Hanway Films; Emphasis Video Entertainment Limited; © 2013 Moonstruck, Llc All Rights Reserved; © Sierra / Affinity; Emphasis Video Entertainment Limited
Director: Park Hoon-jung Cast: Choi Min-sik, Jeong Man-sik, Kim Sang-ho
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Welcome Back
Director: Anees Bazmee Cast: John Abraham, Nana Patekar, Anil Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Shruti Haasan, Ankita Srivastava
Les visiteurs 3: La révolution (Visitors 3, Bastille Day) w
Director: Jean-Marie Poiré Cast: Christian Clavier, Jean Reno, Franck Dubosc, Karin Viard, Sylvie Testud
After 20 years and 20 million admissions in France, Godefroy the Hardy and his loyal Jacquasse the Crass are back, in the middle of the French Revolution!
A pair of reformed gangsters try to find a husband for their newly discovered sister, but complications arise due to mistaken identities. Distributor: Eros International Media Ltd. Contact: Prashant Gaonkar
Distributor: Skeye Contact: Isabelle Bégin
Somm: Into the Bottle is a documentary about what alcoholic beverage?
* excluding France, Benelux, Canada
find answers at apex.aero/trivia
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
X-Men: Apocalypse
Directors: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa Cast: Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Billy Bob Thornton, Alfred Molina
Director: Bryan Singer Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Oscar Isaac, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne
While working as a war correspondent in Afghanistan and Pakistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, Kim Barker develops a crazy relationship with a fellow journalist from Scotland.
Upon awakening after thousands of years, Apocalypse recruits a team of mutants, which includes a disheartened Magneto, to cleanse mankind and create a new world order. As Earth’s fate hangs in the balance, the X-Men must stop their greatest nemesis and save mankind from complete destruction.
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Distributor: Paramount Pictures Contact: Joan Filippini, Vince Cruz
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Zootopia
Directors: Byron Howard, Rich Moore; Jared Bush (co-director) Cast: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Shakira, Idris Elba, J.K. Simmons Zootopia is a city where animals of every kind live together, but rookie officer Judy Hopps soon discovers that being the first bunny on a police force of big, tough animals isn’t so easy. Determined to prove herself, she jumps at the opportunity to crack a case, even if her partner is a scam-artist fox. Distributor: Disney Studios Non-Theatrical Contact: Ruth Walker
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Contact: Julian Levin
DISTRIBUTION rights codes
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Hotels
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Room and Board Whether traveling for the Aircraft Interiors Expo, MultiMedia Market or APEX South America, here are a few great places to call your humble abode, if only for a few days.
Park Hyatt Hamburg
Hotel De Hallen
Hotel Unique
Hamburg, Germany
Amsterdam, Netherlands
São Paulo, Brazil
HAM, Hamburg Airport
Euro
AMS, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Calling code: +49
photos: hamburg.park.hyatt.com; hotel de hallen; hotel unique
Commute time to airport: 25 mins
Euro
Calling code: +31
Commute time to airport: 20 mins
CGH, Congonhas Airport Brazilian real
Calling code: +55
Commute time to airport: 15 mins
why you’ll go
why you’ll go
why you’ll go
Situated on the popular shopping strip Mönckebergstrasse, the hotel is perfectly placed for a little boutique browsing before retiring to your room after a long day of roaming the grounds at the Aircraft Interiors Expo.
During the APEX MultiMedia Market, choose Hotel De Hallen for a cool city retreat in a historical industrial building that also houses a bookstore, food market and cinema in the budding Amsterdam West scene.
The hotel’s name does not disappoint. Looking like an avant-garde ocean liner docked in the concrete jungle, this fivestar accommodation boasts portholes for windows and guestrooms with no right angles.
why you’ll stay
why you’ll stay
why you’ll stay
A six-minute cab ride from the hotel is Miniatur Wunderland, a museum that hosts the world’s largest airport model – based on HAM – which cost $4.8 million and took more than six years to build.
The hotel’s restaurant serves a fine breakfast, lunch and dinner, but for a more authentic cultural experience, stop by the food stalls at Ten Katemarkt and Foodhallen to see what’s cooking.
Enjoy the vantage point of São Paulo from the hotel’s rooftop while sunning in its unusual crimson-red pool, or venture to Ibirapuera Park, the city’s take on Central Park, just a short walk away.
fun fact
fun fact
fun fact
The Reeperbahn, the city’s red-light district, is where The Beatles cut their teeth performing live before becoming world famous.
De Hallen is a 1900s tram depot, a national monument and the only one of its kind in the Netherlands still in its original state.
Can’t find the hotel? Paulistanos not familiar with Hotel Unique? The structure is known locally as melancia, or “watermelon.”
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Throwback
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Watch The Expanding Airport as depicted by Charles and Ray Eames > apex.aero/ expandingairport
Tasked with designing the first hub for jets, one architect dreamed of replacing long airport treks with mobile lounges that shuttled passengers to and from airplanes. by Caroline Ku
The US Federal Aviation Administration did not buy into Eero Saarinen’s concept of “mobile lounges” the first time he explained it to them, so he turned to designers Charles and Ray Eames to animate his vision. The Expanding Airport, a 10-minute video pitch, shows travelers walking a short distance from ticket booths to a mobile lounge that whisks them off to their designated aircraft. Inside, the mobile lounge looks 154
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more hotel lobby than waiting room. People are greeted by attendants and helped out of their coats; there’s ample room to relax on couches, read a newspaper, enjoy a pre-flight drink; and an observation area allows for close-up views of airport operations. The presentation was a hit and mobile lounges were rolled out at the opening of Washington Dulles International in 1962. Similar models, called Plane-Mates, were adopted at airports in Mexico City, Montreal, New York City, Baltimore and Atlanta, but the romantic notion of a passenger-ferrying cocktail car wasn’t completely realized. Manufactured by the military division of Chrysler, and Budd Company, the mobile lounges resemble subway cars. Bars were installed in some, but only for a short period during the 1980s.
Despite opening the underground AeroTrain in 2010, Dulles continues to transport travelers via mobile lounges. The quest for a best practice to board passengers, on the other hand, is not over. Airbus patented a Plane-Mate-like concept that preloads passengers in a removable cabin, but this would mean an industry-wide overhaul of airports and aircraft. For now, it seems shuttle buses, light-rail trains and mobile lounges will have to do.
If you are an APEX member who is interested in contributing to the Throwback page, please submit your personal stories relating to the airline industry, or a moment or product in aviation history, to editor@apex.aero
Airline Passenger Experience Association
photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Balthazar Korab Archive at the Library of Congress
Lounge on Wheels
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