Abstract
Existing commercial airplanes are capable of 16 hour non-stop flights, and the duration of near-term airplanes will be 20+ hours. The capability to conduct extremely long flights can be very advantageous for the airlines and the passengers. However, it is also important to include the user requirements in the design. This study represents the early steps in assessing novel requirements for extremely long flights. In-flight surveys were distributed on long flights (minimum 9 hours), to all passengers and flight attendants willing to participate. Surveys were distributed after takeoff, at mid-flight and before landing, to allow analysis of changes in comfort and preferences as the flight progressed. Surprisingly, neither passengers nor flight attendants reported much discomfort, and the change during the flight, while statistically significant, was slight. Analysis of the passengers' non-stop preferences, and task analysis and reported health symptom results for both the passengers and flight attendants are also presented.
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