Cessna Customers Craft Columbus

Editorial Staff

Monday, October 06, 2008 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Cessna Columbus customers prioritized cabin storage and legroom for long flights (4,000 nm).
The redesigned Columbus cabin incorporates significant storage improvements based on two years of customer feedback.
New features, such as felt-lined cubbyholes, address inefficient space utilization in the previous design.
The redesigned cabin has received overwhelmingly positive customer response.

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If you’re going on a 4,000 nm trip, what do you need? (Besides a state-of-the-art airframe, engines and avionics.) According to Cessna Columbus customers, it’s storage and leg room. Cindy Halsey, Cessna’s vice president of interiors, told AVweb in an AVweb Exclusive Video that plenty of places to put the amenities you need on a long trip (including a flight attendant) have been included in the revamped Columbus thanks to two years of market research and a proof-of-concept mockup. She said the redesigned cabin, unveiled Monday at the National Business Aviation Association convention in Orlando, has met with overwhelming approval from the people who offered comments on the first attempt. “They’re saying, ‘You nailed it,'” she said.

The mockup was unveiled at a splashy event for media and customers, and there was a steady stream of people touring the cabin. Halsey said designers took comments that the space inside was used inefficiently to heart, and most people who had seen the old mockup thought the fuselage had been enlarged. New touches — like felt-lined cubbyholes for personal items like wallets, purses, cameras, etc. and just about every place not needed for people or equipment turned into storage — have met with overwhelming approval, according to Halsey.