Airbus' New Jet Concept Features Swappable Spas and Cafes

Airbus has a modular plan to put glamor and flexibility back into the sky.

Air travel once merited suits and steak knives. On jets like the new Boeing 747, elegant travelers of the 1960s and 70s floated between their spacious seats lounges with seats clustered around coffee tables, full bars with stools, and comfortable couches. Oh how alien that sounds now, as passengers---at least those flying economy---desperately try to stuff themselves and their luggage into ever tighter spaces, then resign themselves to hours of sitting still.

And while the future of air travel seems poised to deliver more of the same, Airbus has a plan to inject some of that glamor and flexibility back into the sky. It has released a new concept called "Transpose," which uses swappable plane interiors to offer travelers everything from restaurants to spas to co-working spaces while aloft.

Those spaces, along with things like spas and coffee bars, would be built in modular sections. A plane running the red eye New York to Paris would be mostly sleeping compartments. And if the jet continues to Istanbul, airport workers could switch the bed modules for a coffee shop and some desks, and the airline gets to meet the demands of a new set of customers.

“This is a clean sheet rethink of cabin design and architecture,” says Jason Chua, project executive at A^3, Airbus’ Silicon Valley outpost tasked with thinking of ways to disrupt the air travel industry before the competition does. Not just a new plane---a new idea of what a plane can be.

Today, airlines reserve this sort of bespoke accommodation for the super wealthy, flying at the front of the plane (or in their own jets). Airbus says it can make it cost effective even in economy with partnerships and marketing opportunities. That spa and coffee shop won’t be airline-branded, they’ll be high-end or popular chains. (Starbucks is at every airport, why not every plane?). Entire modules could be sponsored to help keep any price premium to a minimum. “A regional fitness studio could offer spin classes onboard and introduce their offerings to new markets,” says Chua.

Chua says the chief innovation here is that Transpose doesn’t require radically new aircraft or airport infrastructure, both of which would take decades to design, test, and introduce. Cargo planes already have the right hardware to allow modular cabins. They have large doors and reinforced floor rails, so freight containers can slide in and out, but keep still in flight. Workers can unload and reload an entire interior within an hour.

Airbus believes building on that underlying architecture---which has already cleared substantial safety and regulatory hurdles---makes this concept much more realistic than a patent it secured last year for entire detachable cabins. Still, making a passenger cabin isn’t as easy as bolting a few seats into a metal box, even if it feels like that on some cut price carriers. They need electrical supplies, zoned temperature controls, lighting, and plumbing for restrooms and galleys. “Even moving a bathroom forwards or backwards a few feet can kick off extensive structural engineering and testing work,” says Chua. That work is such a pain that airlines typically updated their cabins just every seven to 10 years. Transpose aims to do a full switch-out in hours, or even minutes.

Each module will be built to conform with strict design rules, so that the plumbing and electrics can be plug and play. But within the module, designers can be more relaxed. Chua imagines a hotel brand offering pod-hotel modules, or a celebrity chef running a pop-up restaurant.

Airlines are cutting costs or increasing fees wherever possible, and Chua knows they won't offer passengers a fancier interior because it's nice. They’re in business to make money, and he believes modular interiors can offer new forms of revenue, above and beyond bag fees. Why not theme a module around a big summer blockbuster movie release? "These could be interactive experiences with characters, immersive digital experiences, branded gifts passengers can take with them,” he says. At the least, it would be way more entertaining than a regular in-flight movie.

Aircraft builders and airlines frequently tease fliers with pretty renderings of luxurious looking interiors, only to make the same forward facing rows. Airbus says the Transpose aircraft could be in the skies in just a few years. The team has already recruited engineers and designers, and is working on a demonstration module (a restaurant) in a full-sized plane mockup. They’re talking to regulators who will have to sign off on the idea, but if they do, seating on a plane might finally have more variety than window, aisle, or---shudder---middle.