At the recent RedCabin conference in Vienna, I asked what seemed like a simple question: what’s the most important aspect of cabin completions – design, engineering, or outfitting?
You can imagine the discussion that followed. Everyone had their favourites and all with perfectly valid reasoning. But after three decades managing completions ranging from Bombardier business jets to Boeing BBJs, I’ve come to realise that the real foundation for success lies somewhere most people never think to look: in the specification document.
And yes, I know this sounds about as exciting as reading insurance fine print. But here’s what I’ve learned: a detailed specification doesn’t constrain creativity – it actually makes it possible.
When Vague Becomes Expensive
Think about what happens when a completion centre receives a brief asking for a “VIP paint finish.” What does that actually mean? Without further definition, they’re left guessing.
It might sound pedantic, but this really isn’t splitting hairs. It’s often the difference between two quotes that can be hundreds of thousands of dollars apart. The top of the tail plane, which nobody will ever see, doesn’t need the same flawless treatment as the fuselage at eye level. A slight orange peel effect on a hidden surface could be perfectly acceptable. But without someone spelling out these distinctions, the completion centre either has to quote high to cover themselves or quote low and face difficult conversations later when expectations don’t match the finished livery.
We worked on a cabin recently where the client wanted proper Asian cooking capabilities. If we’d just written “commercial-grade galley” in the specification, it would have been a disaster. We needed to detail the high-temperature induction systems, the exhaust ventilation that creates negative pressure to keep cooking smells contained, the securing mechanisms for rough weather and clarity of the types of skillets, woks and pots that were needed. Each element needed precise technical requirements. Miss any one of them, and that beautiful galley design simply doesn’t work when the owner’s Chef actually tries to cook in it.
Bringing Dreams Down to Earth (Without Crushing Them)
A good specification brings vision into contact with reality and makes sure both survive. Those gorgeous granite countertops you’re picturing? They may crack when cabin pressure changes and fuselage flexes unless this is taken into consideration in their design.
Comfortable sleeping arrangements present similar challenges. It’s very much like having guests to your home – you wouldn’t pull out the sofa bed and expect them to be comfortable. Yet I’ve seen specifications that result in exactly that: air mattresses placed on seats in £100 million aircraft. A proper specification addresses this from the start, defining lie-flat solutions that are at least as comfortable as business class on a good airline. Not every seat needs to convert to a bed, but the specification should account for how many guests will actually be on long-haul flights and ensure they can sleep properly, not just recline awkwardly.
The specification turns abstract ideas into something clearly defined, measurable and achievable. When we write that cabinet door gaps need to stay consistent within 1mm along their full length – not 6mm at the top graduating to 8mm at the bottom – we’re protecting the designer’s vision of clean, precise lines. That 2mm variance might sound trivial on paper, but it creates a visible taper that immediately looks wrong. When we spell out where orange peel effect on paint is unacceptable and where minor imperfections are acceptable, we’re making sure money goes to what actually counts.
How Small Decisions Multiply
Modern completions involve hundreds of people: designers, engineers, cabinet makers, leather suppliers, avionics specialists, upholsterers, painters and the list goes on. Each person makes dozens of decisions. Without clear specifications, every one of those decisions is essentially an educated guess. And those guesses compound.
Take something as simple as upholstery. A single stitch line along a seat armrest will wear through quickly if it sits exactly where hands rest. Move that same stitch a few millimetres to the side, out of the contact zone, and it lasts the life of the aircraft. This is the kind of knowledge that should be written down, not left to chance during installation.
The same principle applies to technology. We’ve gone from USB-A to USB-C in just a few years. DVD players that seemed cutting-edge a decade ago now look like museum pieces. A proper specification accounts for this, detailing not just current technology but how it can be upgraded or “future-proofed” without tearing the cabin apart five years down the line.
The Industry’s Uncomfortable Truth
Despite everyone agreeing that specifications matter, our industry routinely produces documents of a dozen pages for projects worth tens of millions of dollars. I’ve reviewed specifications that amount to little more than wishful thinking and some renderings, leaving completion centres trying to interpret dreams rather than execute clear plans.
A proper specification, depending on the size of the aircraft and complexity of the cabin, can runs to hundreds of pages. Every detail we document is a problem we prevent, a misunderstanding we avoid, a vision we protect. When we specify that battery packs needing annual service must be accessible without removing major monuments, we’re stopping a 20-minute maintenance job from becoming a day-long ordeal. When we detail that passenger oxygen systems need hours of supply for routing around conflict zones – not just the regulatory minimum of 30 minutes – we’re thinking about how the aircraft will actually be used, not just what boxes need ticking for certification.
The Surprising Freedom of Detail
Here’s something that catches clients off guard: comprehensive specifications actually expand what’s possible creatively. When designers know exactly what can be done, they can push against real boundaries rather than imaginary ones. When completion centres understand the precise requirements, they can focus their expertise on innovative execution rather than spending weeks asking for clarification. When owners see their vision documented in careful detail, anxiety transforms into confidence.
The best specifications have a certain elegance to them – every measurement, every tolerance, every requirement working together in harmony. They translate the language of design into the vocabulary of engineering without losing anything essential in the process. This is where our role becomes particularly important: we work closely with the designer to transform their creative vision into a comprehensive specification, asking clarifying questions and adding the technical details that ensure nothing is left to interpretation. Once drafted, the designer reviews the specification in detail, verifying accuracy. This collaborative review proves invaluable – it allows the designer to step back and assess their own work objectively, catching any gaps or misstatements before they become costly problems during fabrication.
At Camber, we’ve learned that the time we invest in specifications pays back throughout the entire programme. Projects flow more smoothly. Budgets stay under control. Timelines hold together. Most importantly, clients get what they actually envisioned, not some compromised version of it. Just as importantly, a well-written specification gives completion centres the clarity they need to quote competitively – when they fully understand both the vision and the deliverables, they can price accurately rather than building in contingencies for ambiguity.
The Unglamorous Foundation
The next time you walk through a spectacular aircraft interior, admiring the seamless design and flawless execution, remember that all of this excellence sits on a foundation of meticulous documentation. Before anyone refined the first sketch or built the first component, someone invested weeks writing a comprehensive document that made the whole thing possible.
That’s the truth about exceptional aircraft interiors: they depend on detailed paperwork that captures every aspect of the vision and every constraint of reality. After overseeing countless completions, I can tell you with certainty that this boring document is what separates the exceptional from the merely good enough. Critically, the specification also establishes the quality standards and acceptance criteria for the entire project – defining precisely what “acceptable” means for every surface, joint, and finish. When both completion manager and completion centre understand these expectations from the outset, it dramatically reduces conflict during technical acceptance. Everyone is working to the same standard throughout – not discovering they have different interpretations only after the work is complete.
The difference between adequate and extraordinary lives in the specification – the one that ensures every stitch, every surface, every system performs exactly as imagined. That foundation of detail is what supports everything beautiful that comes after.
It might not be the glamorous answer. But watching a meticulously specified cabin come together with no compromises and no surprises is the kind of perfection worth celebrating.
Thomas Chatfield
CEO, Camber Aviation Management