I was receptive to the subject matter covered by this E-book mainly because I had never read a book that covered jet airliner interiors in any detail and it piqued my curiosity.

While a legitimate and often overlooked part of the aviation canon given that the cabin is a vital component of an airliner – and has a direct and significant impact on the profitability of an airline – the subject probably does not get the attention it deserves.

Looking inside

The coverage and depth of knowledge of the subject displayed is both extensive and authorative, as can be expected from an author who worked in senior positions in the airline industry. The book has progressively been updated over the two decades since its first edition appeared. Jetliner Cabins: Evolution & Innovation was initially published in hardback form in 2003 and was followed three years later by the paperback second edition, with the third edition taking the leap from paper to digital form in 2014.

The latest, fourth iteration takes into account the new challenges facing the airline industry – such as COVID-19 – and also includes the latest features of jetliner cabins. There are 245 electronic pages divided into 16 chapters, although the ability to link the E-book with content hosted on the web increases its scope of content far beyond what the pagination would suggest. The reader has access to over 8,000 images in the E-book and on web-hosted content, an increase of around an eighth over the third digital edition.

The latest fourth E-book has chapters divided into sections on Product Branding (First-Class Luxury; Business-Class Comfort; Economy-Class Value; and Aero Identity); Passenger Experience (Sky Lights: Dining à la Jet Set; Real-Feel Customer Touchpoints; and Accessibility – Special Needs); Cabin Maintenance (Look Smart – Keep Clean; Durability; Magic Carpet; and The Leather Forecast) and Marketing Challenge (Upgrades – Refurbishing Aloft; Flying Colours; Green Advances – Superior Interiors; and Ways Ahead). While such subjects may not sound like natural ‘page-turners’, the combination of well written narrative, interspaced with comments by relevant people from industry, and creative presentation – bullet points, links to other content, images – kept me engaged. I also found navigation around the E-book easy.

A nice feature of the E-book is the use of quotes separating each chapter, from people as diverse as Bill Gates (“the airplane became the first world wide web…”), President Ronald Reagan (“flying on Air Force One sort of spoils you for coach on a regular airline”) and Antonine de Saint-Exupery (“I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things”). A directory of specialists, bibliography and comprehensive index can be found in the final pages.

The specialists listed are those that have contributed to the volume, providing valuable insights as well as quotes within each chapter; while the directory lists contact details for them, its value is limited as they have not been updated since earlier editions – in some cases 21 years ago – more than enough time for many to have moved on. However, for anyone wishing to contact companies mentioned in the E-book a list of contacts with hyperlinks to the relevant webpages is also provided, greatly increasing the volume’s utility for those in the industry.

Online

At the end of each chapter is a Jetliner Cabins Windows on the Web page that lists links to contacts mentioned in the preceding pages, plus a link to the web-hosted exclusive content. The process of signing in to the additional ‘off-E-book’ content is reassuringly simple. The home page has an introduction to the book, plus lists of videos of jetliner cabins, case studies, guest essays and picture galleries. As a sample I clicked on the B747 – ‘Queen of the Skies’ link listed under the cases studies, to find a page that amply covered the Jumbo Jet, that was profusely illustrated – obviously with an emphasis on the interior of the airliner – and goes into great detail on various cabin configurations and internal features of the airliner.

As a sample of a picture gallery I viewed the Airbus A220/A350/A380 Picture Galley, which contained a large number of images of the airliners, most, if not all, sourced from the manufacturer, plus cabin configuration diagrams of the three aircraft. My only criticism of this section was the lack of captions beyond the (up to) half-a-dozen word description; I always find a dated image much more useful, as it allows the reader to place it into context easier.

Jetliner Cabins: Evolution & Innovation (ISBN 0-979-8-218-33203-7) can be purchased from the Amazon Kindle Store, Apple Books, Apple App Store and Google Play for use with personal electronic devices, including e-readers, tablets and smartphones. If you have an interest in airliners, aircraft interiors or design in general, this is definitely the (E-)book for you.