Reimagining the Passenger Experience with JPA Design
Spacious seats, personal windows, and a 60,000-foot view of the stratosphere are just some elements of Boom’s supersonic travel experience.
As Boom’s Mach-2.2 commercial airliner, Overture will be history’s fastest and most efficient civil aircraft. But beyond speed, Boom intends Overture to provide an unrivaled travel experience for passengers.
“Our ambition is for travel on Overture to be exceptional in every way,” says Boom founder and CEO, Blake Scholl. “Passengers will fly more than twice as fast as today’s subsonic flights, and they will witness the curvature of the Earth from large, personal windows at 60,000 feet.”
To reimagine the possibilities of an effortless on-board experience, Boom is working with JPA Design, world-class aviation and hospitality design specialists, to design Overture’s cabin interior and create a tranquil stress-free experience.
We sat down with JPA Design’s Design Director of Transport, John Tighe, to learn more about the project, design process, and exciting elements to anticipate in Overture.
Q: Where are you today in the design process?
JT: Today, we’re concentrating on two main elements: Big ideas and the overall packaging of the cabin. First, we’re thinking broadly and focusing on identifying what amazing, unique elements this aircraft can deliver and how we can facilitate these. Second, the overall packaging of the cabin is critical to understand. There are a lot of items that need to fit in the space, each with its own secondary impact. Tackling this huge Tetris puzzle forms most of our work right now, with an emphasis on the quality of space, the passengers, and their belongings each get.
Q: What makes Overture’s unique or different from your past projects?
JT: Since we’re involved so early in the process, our recommendations today can influence the actual aircraft size. That grants more priority to the design and passenger experience elements, which is great, as we often have to work with a fixed ‘tube.’
Overture will be more than just fast. We’re optimizing each part, to ensure that Overture delivers a truly memorable, extraordinary experience.
Q: What are the keys to making small spaces like an interior cabin feel large, open, and memorable?
The real trick is finding the balance between providing each passenger with some privacy, without bringing a sense of claustrophobia. This is a topic that JPA Design has tackled for decades, so we’re confident that we can strike the right balance and deliver the right level of options to the airlines. We’re not designing a singular space here, but rather a range into which airlines can paint their brand and cabin user experience.
Q: What are you most excited to see as a future passenger?
As a passenger, I’m excited by how much more time I will have to spend both at the destination and with my family upon return. That’s how supersonic will really transform the frequent business traveler’s life. Within the aircraft, we’re most excited about witnessing the curvature of the earth out of the window and the beautiful, elegant cabin inside.
