Basel, Switzerland-based FBO, MRO, and completions firm Jet Aviation is aiming to set the standard with its innovative approach to cabin design and pioneering advancements in acoustic technology, according to Christoph Fondalinski, the company’s v-p of completions.
A point of focus on the latter is Jet Aviation’s “Innovation Space”—a simulated showroom that allows customers to experience how the company’s acoustic treatments and other features respond to cabin noise environments in flight.
“One of our real differentiators in the market is the acoustics, how to make the cabin as quiet as possible, and at the same time making sure that the weight of the interior is in line with the customer needs to operate the aircraft,” Fondalinski said. “So when we decided to create the Innovation Space, it was the idea of, ‘How can we present to the customer certain acoustic values of the interior to make sure that the customer can select the right materials, the right treatment needed and to achieve this target of noise in the cabin?’’
He added that effort comes from customers hoping to make acoustics a factor in their design concepts. “They want to make sure that the aircraft is quiet so that when they walk through the aircraft, when they sit down, they can communicate, they can watch movies, whatever is required,” he said.
The materials that come with design also play a role, as well. “So we listen to the customer needs of how they would like to lay out the interior. What kind of materials, the color scheme, the materials they would like to use based on their taste,” he said.
“But a very strong focus is on the performance, of course, and then also on technology and internet and staying connected all the time.”
Fondalinski said the company has decades of experience outfitting green aircraft with bespoke VIP cabins. “We launched the first VIP completions project in 1977 at the Paris Air Show,” he noted.
“We really want to be pioneers in the industry and we've done more than 400 completions. We're really focusing on what we call narrowbody and widebody green aircraft completions here in Basel. But with our capabilities in-house, we also do refurbishment and upgrades on in-service aircraft here in our facility.”
Fondalinski said that the company handles all of its green interior work in-house. “We have our own engineering department which is then effectively doing all the detailed engineering activities from the cabinetry, but also all the system-related avionics and mechanical system installations,” he said.
“And then we have our production facility that we just opened three years ago here in Basel, which is capable to produce all the interiors for the bespoke cabins that we can produce.”
That work also extends to its sister company, Gulfstream Aerospace, with which Fondalinski said Jet Aviation has been in a collaborative relationship that has extended for more than 10 years. Both companies are owned by parent company General Dynamics.
“On Gulfstream aircraft, we collaborate a lot on the technical approach and how to make the cabin lighter, but we are also a service center for Gulfstream,” he said. “We do line maintenance, refurbishments, and upgrades. We can not only do that here in Basel but in our other facilities around the globe.”
Jet Aviation Basel has six hangars and can accommodate aircraft up to the Boeing 747 for completions, refurbishment, and maintenance. In 2021, an 8,000-sq-ft completion center was opened, bringing the cabinet shop, interiors and finishing shops, and sheet metal shops together in one location.