FREQUENT FLYER

Jetliner Cabins manages to be as entertaining as it is educational. Although it should be of interest to anyone who flies; it has particular appeal for the frequent flyer. Here’s everything you ever wanted to know, and then some, about design, function, construction and maintenance of an environment most of us take for granted, the passenger seating area of the modern jet aircraft.

Author Jennifer Coutts Clay has expertly researched her subject, and the result bespeaks her 30 years of high-level experience in the aviation industry. Her wide-ranging survey of the design development of the commercial aircraft environment extends from the late ‘70s to the turn of the millennium. The text of the 192-page, oversize (9 x 12-inch) hardcover volume, is augmented with more than 350 photos, most of them in color, and further supported by comments from dozens of international commercial airline and aviation experts.

In intricate detail, here’s a fascinating peek behind the scenes at such all-important considerations affecting passenger comfort and safety, as aircraft lighting, in-flight dining, cabin cleanliness, design choices in cabin fittings, and the how and why of all-important seating design.

Take for instance the seemingly simple matter of carpet selection and maintenance. Considering a load factor, up to 10,000 passengers a week confronting many high-volume carriers, carpet wear and tear can add up to the equivalent of up to 50,000 people, or 100,000 feet, impacting an 18-inches-wide piece of carpet in just one week. Add to that, the literally hundreds of other factors involved in keeping a modern jet in the air—and profitable—and the implications are staggering. Author/aviation consultant Clay does an excellent job of putting it all in proper perspective.

�Frequent Flyer