Flight Chic Special Reports

You can find these special reports and contributions by Marisa Garcia on leading industry media outlets

2015

“New Year, New Life!”  They say in Spain. For me, it’s: “new year new deadlines,” and I’m tickled pink about it. There are many exciting stories in the works on my desk, even more great story ideas still to draft. No doubt the fates of aviation will come up with unexpected developments and new trends for me to cover this year.

To mark my second year in publication, and help readers catch-up to what they might have missed, I’m writing summary posts on my stories for the month, and including relevant articles from others on topics which caught my attention and add perspective. These summary posts are well worth following, and I hope Flight Chic readers will enjoy them. Follow Flight Chic and get my posts delivered to your inbox, so you don’t miss a single one.

The monthly summaries of articles will also continue under 2015 Flight Chic Special Reports, as they did in 2014, for anyone wishing to track the growth of my writer’s portfolio–or just find out what I’ve been up to when I’m not posting on my own sites. The detailed list, with links to articles, will appear under a tab for each month. You can also find a selection of some of my favourite published articles sorted by topic on my Pressfolios page or review a hand-picked selection on my Contently Portfolio.

I hope you’re looking forward to 2015 as much as I am. Fly often. Fly safe. Fly Chic!

2015

March Featured: A lot of Open Skies antagonism as U.S. airlines contend with competition from Gulf airlines, British Airways reimagines Business Class, SITA masters new bag tracking technologies, Ryanair reveals a brand new image and old behaviour (whiplash moments), Vueling trials new Wifing In-Flight Wi-Fi, and Finnair announces it will spend $33 million to ensure its passengers are connected in-flight. Plus other gripping passenger experience news, and top design psychologists assure us that long-haul economy air travel really gets all up in your head.

Mind Space, Aircraft Interiors International Magazine, March Issue, pages 58-66

February Featured: Singapore Airlines rocks Premium Economy, more in-depth ratings of Premium Economy and Business Class, and a can’t-miss exclusive trends report for Skift on airline content marketing, just for a start.

January Featured: JetBlue In-Flight manners, Europe’s Airline should act like hotels, flying to Cuba may finally be possible again for U.S. citizens, a close look at competition in the Middle East aviation sector, and really in-depth ratings of airline’s long-haul Economy product. Plus plenty more exciting developments in the clouds.

2014

December Featured: Japan Airlines cuts seats in new 787-8 Dreamliner giving passengers more room, JetBlue Rolls-Out IFE Old-School, the Jewel Changi breaks ground, Etihad gets new Uniforms, and disrespecting flight attendants is totally nuts. Oh, and the top 10 interiors innovations of 2014, just to name a few.

Passenger Terminal World, January 2015

• Cover Story: Make a Connection (pages 24-28) Airports are all about connections.  New Apps and Social Media engagement help bring passengers closer, and encourage airport revenue.
• Behaviour Problems (pages 50-54).  The unruly passenger crisis has become a critical safety risk for aviation, as IATA has pointed out.  We look at how airports like Gatwick and Edinburgh do their part to stop unruly behaviour at the Terminal, and how new technologies could help screen problem passengers in future.

APEXMagazine, The Architecture Issue, January 2015

• Sustainable Airports (page 31), When green Terminal projects are literally green: growing, beautiful and even delectable.

Aircraft Interiors International Magazine, November 2014

• Cover Story: Burning Hot (pages 60-66) Insights from industry experts on the fire-testing certification of CMF components and composites to stringent industry standards.
• Universal Design Values (pages 24-32) Leading designers and industry experts share how making travel accessible to all,
• through the principles of Universal Design, ensures that everyone can travel in comfort and with dignity.

November Features: Airlines could be wildly profitabl
e, and improve the passenger experience, if they can effectively become lifestyle brands.  News on the tricky business of Wi-Fi in the sky, Americans still unhappy with air travel, Spotlights on Key Aviation Markets, 3D Seating Design’s Cool-Potential, and how Virgin Atlantic is Enlightened, to name a few.

October Features: Air China’s new storytelling interiors, Tesla Taxis at Schiphol, and Airbus Scaring the Stuffing out of Birds, and 53% of airline passengers suffer from NoMoPhobia.

Passenger Terminal World, September 2014

• Science of Self (pages 27-30) Emerging Biometric technology will significantly enhance our lives and our travel experience over the next 20 years.  We look into how it’s being incorporated into seamless travel, what experts believe are the benefits to travellers of this technology, and how willing people will be to leave behind a little trace of themselves in exchange for a smoother journey.
• 20/20 Vision (pages 47-50) This exclusive interview with Dave Bakker, President of Europe for SITA reviews how far we’ve come in travel technology, how the best emerging technology finds its place in today’s travel, and gives us an exciting peek ahead to travel technology in 2034.

September Features: Virgin Atlantic taught Airlines to do Premium Economy, Copenhagen is Europe’s Most Efficient Airport, Ryanair won’t get pinchy, there’s a Nike plane, Airbus Develops Full-Immersion IFE, and Apple saves NFC.

Design Intelligence, Aircraft Interiors International Magazine (pages 48-56), September 2014

August Featured: Facts on the Cabin Crunch, Gogo’s new In-Flight Entertainment, and using tobacco to fly planes.

Skift Special Trends Report: The Future of the Aircraft Cabin: Tracking Trends and Debunking Myths, Skift, August 2014

July Featured: More In-Flight Entertainment, Airlines and Big Data, and the latest on Wi-Fi in the Sky

Checking In to Cloud Nine, APEX Magazine July Issue and on Site, July 2014

Skift Special Trends Report: The Rise of Female Business Travellers, June 2014

Passenger Terminal World, June 2014

• Let it drop. (pages 34-40) Self-service bag-drop solutions have become commonplace in airports around the world.  What approach should terminals adopt, and how is technology changing the way the process operates?

Aircraft Interiors International Magazine, June 2014

• Dangerous Devices? (pages 48-54) Passengers are checked for all manner of dangerous items at security, but could it be their personal electronic devices that pose the major risks to aviation safety?
• Passenger Demographics.  (pages 56-64) The key audiences for whom interiors are being designed are changing.  It’s time to get to know the Millennial, the Gen-TREP and the Silver Flyer a little better.

June Featured: Just about everything you want to know about technology trends in Aviation..and a chat with the Lego Pilot!

May Featured: New Cabins, Unruly Passengers, and the facts of using electronic devices in-flight.

May Skift Special Trends Report: The Rapid Ascent of In-Flight Entertainment

April 2014 Featured: The New Aircraft Seat That Will Blow Your Mind and Freak You Out a Bit , The Seat to End the Battle for the Armrest, and the Best Way to Fly Plane Using Google Glass

March Issue of Aircraft Interiors International Magazine:

• Fresh Approach – An in-depth look at shortening cabin life-cycle trends, page 58
• Changes in the Air – Interview with Dr. Joachim Schneider, Lufthansa German Airlines on the airline’s revolutionary cabin design strategy, page 104
• Modern Manners – Interview with Alice Liu, American Airlines, about managing the cabin interiors new image program for the world’s largest airline, page 135
• Airbus Insider – Interview with Ingo Wuggetzer, Airbus, about future strategies and innovations for cabin interior design and the passenger experience, page 167

March 2014 Featured: Lufthansa’s New Premium Economy, a Comparison of the 3 Global Airline Alliances, How to Help Airline Disaster Victims Cope, and the Facts on the Black Box

February 2014 Featured: Bird Strikes, Seat Testing and Ryanair’s new more social attitude.

January 2014 Featured: Seats, Safety and the All the Facts on Flammability.

Featured Image: Coming Home: A Nice View of Denmark from the Window of My SAS Flight to Billund Airport