The president of a company that designs private plane interiors says ultra-wealthy clients no longer want their private jets to look like private jets
- Ultra-wealthy private jet owners no longer want the interiors of their aircraft to look like a private jet.
- Instead, they want the inside to resemble their home or office.
- Many of the same materials and colors used in residential interior design, such as composite wood and cooler color tones, are starting to show up in private aviation.
- Private jet owners also want to be able to sleep soundly on their planes, so they're getting custom mattresses and custom bedding to fit their aircraft.
If you can afford to buy a private jet, you can likely afford to have it designed exactly how you want it. And these days, ultra-wealthy jet owners want the interiors of their planes to look less like a plane and more like their home or office.
Eric Roth, president of International Jet Interiors, which designs private jet interiors, told Business Insider that his clients want their everyday lifestyle being incorporated into the aircraft, rather than treating the two as something completely separate, as they used to.
"It used to be when you had a private jet, it had to look like a jet, feel like a jet, smell like a jet," Roth said. "So I had a certain lifestyle in Manhattan but when I went to my jet, it felt like my jet. Now, we're seeing those lines being blurred a little bit."
More of his customers are coming to him saying that they like how their home or office feels, and they want to extend that feeling and lifestyle into their aircraft.
"It doesn't stop at the office, it doesn't stop at the home. We're able to extend that general feeling," Roth said.
Some of the same materials and colors currently being used in residential interior design are popping up in the aviation space, he said. Instead of exotic wood veneers, for example, they're transitioning to composite wood veneers, which give a more contemporary look.
"[There's] less grain pattern, much more uniformity in the grain and color, so it becomes more of a backdrop as opposed to the focal point," Roth said.
Jet owners are starting to want cleaner lines and cooler color tones. They want simplicity: fewer details, but "the details that we incorporate must make a statement," Roth said.
They also want to be able to get a good a night's sleep like they do at home. While some jets have separate bedrooms, others have chairs that can be converted into a sleeping arrangement. But Roth says his high-powered clients don't want to feel like they're sleeping on a couch.
"We're creating custom mattresses and custom bedding for them, all to fit their aircraft," Roth said. "So when they do take advantage of these long-range flights - I've got plenty of clients that go to Shanghai or Hong Kong or the Middle East - they want to be well rested."
Some private jet owners have taken luxury to new heights in their aircraft by installing elements such as multimedia theaters, skylights, and heated marble floors.