Cebu Pacific Calls For Greater Data Collection For Cabin Components

SINGAPORE—Philippines-based Cebu Pacific Air is calling for better data collection for aircraft interior components, which will help the industry better plan cost investments for cabin interiors and track patterns and trends.

“The data is lacking, sometimes subjective and not structured, making long-term cost investment challenging,” said Cebu Pacific group director, technical management, Rakesh Dixit during Aviation Week's MRO-Asia Pacific 2024 conference. 

He explained the company definitely encourages the use of new and lightweight materials, but “we have hundreds of cases where [the cabin parts] are not able to keep up with the demands of routine aircraft operations." 

What ends up happening, said Dixit, is the carrier has to procure more parts, which drives up costs and the initial objective of attaining "sustainability is probably lost." 

Dixit said that since Cebu Pacific is an LCC, it retains customers by maintaining customer satisfaction, which includes the reliability of its no-frills cabin and seat products. He expressed his disappointment that some issues on the Airbus A350 are still found on the newer A330neo program, which he expected to be solved.

He shared that the LCC is facing issues, such as with the lavatories, on its high-density A330neos.

ST Engineering SVP and head of cabin interiors and engineering solutions Tan Yen Ping said at the conference that there are advancements in research and development by suppliers on areas of new materials, which could be either lighter, more sustainable or more durable.

“There’s a lot of research going on, not as much as we hope it will be, but it is a trend that we see that is coming online in terms of material science,” Tan said, adding that aviation remains a heavily regulated industry with rules on the types of materials allowed to be fitted onto aircraft.