Air travel research

NRC is actively seeking partners and collaborators to help improve passenger comfort, health and safety, and cabin energy efficiency. Potential partners include:

• owners and operators of commercial aircraft who are interested in differentiating their products to increase passenger revenues
• air framers interested in taking a human factors approach to passenger comfort, health and safety, and cabin crew operations and workload
• system manufacturers and integrators who possess or seek expertise in passenger comfort and health and safety, as well as human factors
• airlines interested to develop and evaluate new cabin interiors, technologies and concepts, to explore trade-offs between cabin attributes; identifying the most cost-effective and cost-beneficial designs whilst optimizing comfort
• regulators and Government Agencies who require support in developing and implementing effective regulations that provide passengers and crew with a safe, healthy and comfortable flight experience

Our primary areas of focus include:

• providing a healthy end-to-end environment for passengers and crew with improved air quality, filtration and disinfection, and reduced contact interfaces, and reduced cabin and flight deck energy consumption
• resolving accessibility challenges faced by travellers with cognitive and physical disabilities
• creating a more comfortable journey by making improvements in the cabin environment, including lighting, acoustics, vibration, biosciences, thermal comfort and air quality, as well as in-flight entertainment and productivity
• enhancing hearing protection solutions primarily for military aircrew
• reducing whole body vibration levels through passive and active technologies

Through broad collaboration with partners and stakeholders, the NRC's specific goals for the strategic client service are to demonstrate the following by 2025:

• Reduce passenger transit time in airports by 50%
• Reduce the incidence of health issues arising with passengers and crew during travel by 30%
• Reduce presence of cabin surface and airborne pathogens by 20%
• Improve acceptable passenger comfort levels by 30%
• Reduce aircrew neck and back injuries by 30%
• Support regulatory bodies with improving air travel accessibility

Our partners realize the following benefits:

• Access to a world-class research infrastructure and unique expertise, combined with competitive rates, customized service options, and measures to ensure partner data integrity and confidentiality
• Maximum opportunities and connections between Canadian companies at all levels of the supply chain, including upper tier suppliers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)
• Increased market share and operating margins for OEMs with cost-effective cabin design and configurations
• Access to our unique cabin demonstrator facility, which serves as a platform to demonstrate, de-risk and accelerate the development of new technologies

The NRC offers a number of research and technical services that include fee-for-service testing, calibration and consultation. We also develop and transfer technologies through consortia, collaborative research agreements and licensing arrangements, tailoring business opportunities to the needs of individual clients and licensees.

Our proven track record of successful research and technology development, as well as our finely honed expertise and multi-disciplinary array of technical capabilities, make us ideally positioned to help optimize commercial air travel. The NRC's technical advisory services include:

• acoustics
• lighting
• ventilation and thermal comfort
• air quality
• biosciences
• human physiological monitoring
• human factors

Partners and clients have access to a wide range of facilities that will contribute to the development of new technologies for safer, healthier, and more comfortable flights. Our facilities include:

• acoustic transmission loss facility
• reverberant acoustic chamber research facility
• anechoic room
• Centre for Air Travel Research
• fleet of research aircraft
• human-rated vibration test facility
• indoor environment facility
• volatile organic compounds (VOC) analysis laboratory
• aircraft noise reduction facility
• large electrodynamic shaker facility