Efficiency has long been at the heart of business aviation. But luxury isn’t far behind.
At the recent National Business Aviation Association convention in Las Vegas, vendors spread across several football fields’ of space offered a plethora of goods to make the trip more enjoyable — everything from king-sized beds to big-screen TVs, custom etched shower doors to crystal lighting.
Kathy Pett ran her fingers across samples of mohair carpeting on display at the Aircraft Interior Products booth. She’s director of development for the Wichita firm and her eyes twinkle as she points to various colorful examples of mohair, the ‘in’ fabric for carpets.
It offers new and exciting design opportunities to utilize bright colors while maintaining the durability necessary in aircraft carpeting, she explains.
Aircraft Interior Products serves OEMs, completion centers and refurbishment operations with a range of choices for cabin design.
Flooring is at the heart of the business.
Choices range from the designer options Pett was displaying to utilitarian anti-slip flooring products. It also provides a range of leather, Naugahyde, vinyl and textile choices for cabin uses.
In 2009, Aircraft Interior Products bought its own carpet mill, White Oak Carpets in North Carolina. The firm also leverages the design team from its corporate parent, CAP Carpet Inc., the nation’s 13th largest flooring retailer.
Meanwhile, Kaye Jeronowitz was showing off a wide range of leather products that can make cabin seats feel like home — or better. She’s divisional manager for aviation and marine at Edelman, a leather specialist based in New Milford. Her line of buttery soft leathers come in bright colors and sophisticated tones.
Edelman operates in four roughly equal spheres — aviation, hospitality, construction and residential — she explained. Edelman leather adorns an Italian restaurant at The Venetian resort on the Las Vegas Strip, for example.
The firm’s history traces to the 1950s and includes some design help from artist Andy Warhol. Today’s configuration emerged in 1984 and its focus is on delivering fine grain leathers from Europe.
The firm has a finishing plant in upstate New York and showroom in 10 of the world’s fashion centers including New York, San Francisco and London.
Its representatives are located across the globe including Singapore, Hong Kong and the Middle East. Its line includes 75 different leathers in 750 color choices.
While engines and handling characteristics may drive the purchase, vendors made it clear that there’s lots of room to personalize the cabin interior to fit even the most finicky tastes.
