What are the fators affecting in—flight comfort？

When private jet entered our world as a top luxury， the research on in-flight comfort has only just begun. Enter “aircraft cabin comfort” into Science-Direct and most essays you get are about noise and air quality. But the list does not stop here. Although business jet is claimed to be the most comfortable and convenient vehicle， we do not really know if it is indeed comfortable or what are the reasons for being uncomfortable.

British scholars Richards and Jacobson are the earliest researchers on in-flight comfort. Through extensive polling and gamma function calculating， they arrived at a list of factors that lead to discomfort.

Topping the list are 4 seat related factors， namely legroom， and the hardness， width， and shape of the seat， which are followed by work space， cabin service， turbulence， noise， ventilation， lighting， temperature， air pressure， and smell.

These results have been validated by following researches conducted by German scholar Konieczny in 2001 and Netherland scholars Blok， Vink and Kamp. It is evidenced that when legroom is increased from 21 inches to 27 inches， customer satisfaction on in-flight comfort improves by 30%. This issue not only exists in economy class but also exists in first class or business jets.

Generally speaking， the above results are valid only when you are onboard an aircraft. However， according to Konieczny， experience prior to boarding is even more important. If you are not happy about check-in or the following processes， it will be very unlikely for you to think positively about in-flight comfort， because you have already got a first impression that it will not be a comfortable journey before you even get on board.

There is also an interesting misunderstanding about the role noise plays in in-flight comfort， It is unexpected that in any aircraft， lower noise does not necessarily mean better comfort.

For business jet， the list goes on to include space design， cabin service， familiarity with the aircraft， and flight time. The following text will explore some of these factors.