Category: Blog

Your personal aircraft or your company’s business jet are more than just a vehicle. The aircraft represents you. It says something about you and reinforces a certain message about who you are and what you stand for. It’s part of your brand. So, how can you creatively promote your brand for a long-lasting and profitable effect?

Exterior paint schemes are often a subtle reflection of company branding, so why not consider your brand on key elements of your aircraft interior? Using our exceptional metal finishing process, we can incorporate your brand colors on aircraft interior parts. This isn’t just an extra step in our metal plating process; it’s a crucial step to help you make a larger impact.

Why Personal Branding for Aircraft Interior Parts?

A personal brand is the exclusive combination of skills and experiences that make you who you are. In effect, it is how you present yourself to the world. The process of personal branding involves finding the things that are unique to you or your business and then working on building a reputation to support what you ultimately want to be known for.

Consistency in your brand messaging is key. One of the distinguished ways that you can achieve this is through branding the metal plating pieces inside your private aircraft.  

From seat buckles and latches to ashtrays and hinges, basically, any metal interior part can be custom-plated by HighTech Finishing to reinforce your brand. Whether that is a monogram, a symbol, a logo, a phrase, or any other type of personalization, leaving your individual mark on the interior metal parts of the aircraft not only elevates your brand to the next level, it solidifies the feel of your brand for every single person privileged enough to come onboard.

Regardless of whether you desire for a single metal item to be personalized or if you have a more extravagant vision for several elements inside the aircraft to contain your unique look, these days, everyone wants their own exclusive touch. Why not you?

How We Support Business Branding

An individual can have a personal brand exclusive from their business brand, or it could be one and the same. Business branding is centered on the practice of promoting the brand name of a corporate entity, as opposed to specific products or services. This could be your company logo, a symbol, or even a catchphrase.

Personalizing and customizing the interior of your business jet is just one more touchpoint that your clients will see and remember. Keep in mind that your clients and customers are bombarded with messages through a variety of advertising mediums. Onboard your aircraft, they will only see one. Yours. This leaves a lasting visual memory and accessible brand recall when they think about your company.

If your branding is effective, then it will differentiate you from the competitive noise and allow you to build trust with prospective clients. By engraving your logo, symbol, or name on metal interior pieces, your company’s brand creates a seamless transition from the board room to marketing to customer decisions.

And, unlike temporary means of advertising, metal branding is permanent. Almost any business owner can travel private, but the smart and savvy ones have reinforced their message by carrying the branding through to their aircraft interiors.

Let’s Get Personal with Metal Finishing of Interior Parts!

What do you want guests or customers to remember when they step onto and off your plane? If it’s brand awareness, contact HighTech Finishing today to explore the different ways we can customize and personalize the interior parts of your aircraft using our superior metal finishing process.

The options might be limitless, but there is, and only will be, one you. Make the best impression for years to come. Call us to discuss using our metal finishing services to create stunning, branded interior metal parts.

When it comes to creating a brilliant look for the interior of your private aircraft, you want to be sure that every decision supports the aesthetic you are going for. This includes deciding between our many offerings including chrome or nickel plating options for aircraft interior parts.

Although you can never go wrong when making the chrome vs. nickel decision, it is still important to understand the visual differences between these two finishes to achieve the absolutely ideal look and feel for your aircraft interior parts.

Chrome Plating Finishes Delivered by HighTech Finishing

For a modern and sleek look, chrome plating is a wonderful choice. It gives a smooth, shiny, uniform, and contemporary interior feel. Although part of the familiar silver-grey family palate, we offer many distinctions within that realm, as detailed below in the finish options we offer.

Our chrome family of finishes include the following.

• Polished Bright is lustrous and clean with a continuous effortless look.
• Satin Brushed is delicate with faint exquisite traces of brush stroke lines.
• Frosted is finished with an opaque speckle.
• Antique has a slightly increased brownish color.
• Pearllite, as the name suggests, resembles a silvery silky pearl

In tandem with its state-of-the-art look, chrome offers distinct advantages. Primarily, its ability to withstand heavy customer use while maintaining the integrity of the part due to its high level of strength as a metal.

Interior aircraft parts will generally, over time, have wear and tear on them, scratches, and unfortunate dents. This can lead to a shorter life span of the part and thus costly to replace frequently.

However, minor physical faults can be addressed. This will completely revitalize the appearance, making it look brand-new. Parts are then easier to clean and maintain, ensuring that the aircraft stays pristine at all times. You can clean and polish any finish with a non-abrasive cloth.

Nickel Plating Finishes Delivered by HighTech Finishing

Nickel is another wonderful, robust choice for aircraft interior parts with its silvery-white luster and slight golden tinge.

With its bright, lustrous appeal, nickel provides an attractive finish to interior parts with a glossy, and a distinct, yellowish hue. We have 12 brilliant nickel options to choose from.

Our Nickel family of finishes includes the following.

• Polished Bright is creamy, light, and uniform with a hint of pearly gray.
• Satin Brushed is a bit darker in gray with fine brush stroke essences.
• Frosted is similar to Frosted Chrome, but darker in nature.
• Matte Nickel is somewhat further cloudy, but similar to Polished Bright in smoothness.
• Light Aged (Antique) is relatively more yellow than Satin Brushed with delicate lines.
• Medium Aged (Antique) is a step darker than Medium Aged with increased gray tones but similar lines as Light Aged Antique.
• Dark Aged (Antique), the deepest and darkest of the Nickel Antique colors, is opaque with subtle lines.
• Hammertone has comparable color properties to Light Aged Antique but is finished with a swirl texture.
• Smoked Nickel Polished Bright has an enhanced brilliance to its counterpart Polished Bright.
• Smoked Nickel Satin Brushed has hints of greenish gray with discriminating brush lines.
• Pearllite resembles a silky gold and ivory luxurious pearl.
• Swirl is similar to Smoked Nickel Polished Bright but has greater prominent swirl finishes on top in contrast to the smaller swirls on Hammertone.

Find Support Selecting From Chrome vs. Nickel Plating Options

Chrome and nickel are both amazing selections for your aircraft interior parts, but picking the right one shouldn’t have to be difficult. Let us help!

Regardless of which plating you chose to elevate the interior of your aircraft, both of these long-lasting metals will provide your aircraft with the perfect touch of beauty and brilliance for years to come.

The challenging part, of course, will be deciding on which of our multiple color options to choose from! To get started, check out our list of over 130 finishes.

Our team is ready and able to help you narrow down the choices for your specific aircraft needs and personality. We are looking forward to working with you to make your aircraft a work of interior art.

Contact HighTech Finishing today to find out more about our industry-leading plating services to enhance the look and feel of your aircraft interior! We can be reached toll-free at 800-949-0124 or by email at info@htf.net.

Houston, Texas, USA — January 4, 2021: HighTech Finishing (HighTech) has appointed international business executive Simon Haining as new company president. Simon brings 15+ years of experience in various fields of manufacturing, aerospace, and aviation to HighTech. Simon will support the company’s growth objectives of advancing capabilities in metal plating for aircraft interior parts.

Most recently, Simon was General Manager of the PCC Forged Products division of Wyman-Gordon, a worldwide aerospace manufacturing company with offices in the U.K. and Houston. Simon joins HighTech to provide business leadership and operational support to serve the company’s domestic and international business jet aviation customers.

“We were impressed with Simon’s global business experience and deep understanding of manufacturing processes to optimize our delivery of finished parts to customers,” says Carl A. Bartuch Jr., CEO of HighTech Finishing. “Simon is the right person to lead our company forward enhancing our Lean manufacturing processes and building on our stellar reputation for high-quality decorative metal plating.”

“I look forward to applying my experience as a business leader in the manufacturing environment and technical understanding of metalwork to support company growth in 2021 and beyond,” says Simon Haining. “Throughout my career, I have focused on continuous improvement by asking the right questions and bringing together various departments to support the business as a whole.”

Educationally, Simon studied physics at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, where he grew up. After supporting university research into quantum physics, Simon entered the aerospace and aviation environment to apply his understanding of metallurgy and metal properties in manufacturing settings.

Simon advanced from specializing in the technical side of manufacturing to becoming an operational leader focused on refining processes that improve productivity and the quality of finished products. Throughout his career prior to joining HighTech, Simon honed critical skills managing people and took on more business responsibilities that allowed him to oversee the success of manufacturing projects for clients including Baker Hughes, Shell, Schlumberger, and Halliburton.

In 2021, Simon will spearhead efforts to optimize HighTech manufacturing processes, navigate post-pandemic challenges for the aviation market, and support the development of new services to meet the latest customer needs.

– To contact Simon Haining for introductions and further discussion, call HighTech Finishing locally in Houston at 713-666-0550 or dial toll-free +1-800-949-0124.

ABOUT HIGHTECH FINISHING: Since 1984, HighTech Finishing has led the aviation interior plating industry by providing high-quality decorative metal parts to partners in the aircraft industry that include business jet owners, aircraft interior designers, and MRO facilities. HighTech offers a comprehensive array of plating solutions, including a selection of 130+ decorative metal plating finishes for metal parts to elevate the look and feel of the aircraft interior. HighTech holds certifications and designations including FAA CRS Q9HR088B, ISO 9001:2015, and AS9100:2016.

Owning a private jet is a hard-earned, privileged luxury in which every aspect should reflect perfection. The experience of the private traveler — whether the jet owner himself, a business client on their way to an important meeting, or a family headed to a treasured vacation — should not only be superior in comfort, but aesthetically pleasing in all aspects from the moment they step foot into the aircraft.

This perfection deserves to stand the test of time to be greatly enjoyed by every person fortunate enough to travel privately. One way we achieve this at HighTech Finishing is by using a clear coat application as part of our finishing process.

Why Clear Coat on Aircraft Interior Parts?

The beauty and benefits of clear coating is tri-fold.

Endurance and Efficiency to Support Longevity

Specialized interior parts that are completed with their final color and then finished with clear coat look better longer, extending the functionality of the aircraft interior design.

The extra application is specifically designed to prevent corrosion, keeping the aircraft in the air rather than on the ground for maintenance. It also improves gloss and color retention, making the specialized colors you select look brilliant and luxurious for years to come.

Additionally, adding clear coat to interior metal parts creates a smooth surface that makes it quicker and easier to clean parts. We all know that an occasional scratch will occur with regular use. The clear coat allows you to effortlessly buff these out as if they were never there.

Your jet not only looks impeccable, but it is easier to maintain and will stand the test of time.

Enhanced Technique to Achieve a Consistent Finish

Our highly specialized and carefully selected technicians go through rigorous training in order to perfect the process of applying a seamless clear coat to parts that will be installed on the aircraft.

Our team ensures that the top coat is not over-sprayed, nor-under sprayed, to achieve an even application. A visual inspection is then performed for obvious defects so that corrections can be made.

If a rare defect is found, the clear coat can be sanded and polished due to the properties consistent in the enameled paint, without tending to run, sag, or pinhole. Significant advances have been made in the process of applying a clear top coat, which has reduced the time it takes to apply and dry.

Therefore, the amount of time an aircraft is out of service for repair is diminished and flying time is increased. At every step, parts are carefully handled, meticulously maintained, and beautifully finished.

Parts Treated with Clear Coat Adds to Enjoyment

Traveling in a private jet is meant to be enjoyed. The enjoyment not only comes from the travel experience itself, but to the eyes and touch of the traveler. Having clear coated parts significantly increases the visual appeal of the aircraft interior and feels soft and luxurious to the touch.

This indulgence will last for years due to the sustainability of the top clear coat protectant paint and alleviates the need to take your aircraft out of commission to constantly maintain its beauty, leaving you more time to enjoy the aircraft. Every person stepping aboard your aircraft will immediately see and feel luxury, as they relax and indulge in their flight.

Whether you are a business aircraft manufacturer or a private jet owner, shouldn’t your hard work be appreciated and enjoyed for years to come?

Contact HighTech Finishing for All Your Finishing Needs

The choice is clear. HighTech Finishing has you covered delivering a variety of finish and clear coat solutions to enhance your aircraft interior parts.

Your aviation interior parts are only as good as their long-lasting finishing touch. Don’t settle for anything less. We believe in our team, our capabilities, and our Quality Management System as we continue to facilitate luxurious interiors for our aviation customers.

Let us show you how we can exceed your expectations. Contact us today to discuss how we can support your aviation interior plating needs. We can be reached toll-free at 800-949-0124 or by email at info@htf.net.

Being in business since 1984, HighTech Finishing has seen its share of dramatic twists and turns in the aviation industry. But, nothing quite compares to what we all went through together in 2020.

Through this extremely challenging year, we appreciate that we were able to fortify relationships with our valued customers. Whether we have provided you with aviation interior plating for decades or just started working together in 2020, we are incredibly appreciative of your continued business.

We are also proud that our facility in Houston, Texas, remained open throughout this year’s pandemic. Because of our dedicated health and safety measures, we were able to meet your latest needs, introduce new services, and continue to elevate our provision of aircraft interior plating services.

As we finish 2020 and look ahead to what’s in store for 2021, we believe it’s important to share our successes as we continue to build on our history leading the way in aviation interior plating.

HighTech Finishing Successes in 2020

In addition to remaining open and operable throughout the pandemic, we achieved other successes that we are proud to share with you.

– Named Supplier of the Year by Rosen Aviation. At the beginning of 2020, we were honored to be recognized by Rosen Aviation as their 2019 Supplier of the Year for our consistent delivery of high-quality plated parts.

Rosen reported zero defects and zero delays receiving parts that we plated at our shop. In total for the year, we delivered 174 parts to Rosen — all with 100 percent quality completion. This was truly a team award reflecting our exceptional teamwork and strong coordination between teams.

– Completed ISO9001/AS9100 Audit with no findings. Earlier this year, we completed our annual ISO9001/AS9100 surveillance audit with zero findings. This year’s audit was performed virtually due to the pandemic, which meant we needed to coordinate the audit in a completely new way. Our company was prepared.

We are proud of each team’s ability to do their part to help us meet every requirement of the audit. The end result was confirmation that our Quality Management System (QMS) meets all ISO9001 and AS9100 requirements.

– Introduced new Technical Field Representative role. In 2020, we elevated William Gonzalez to a new position that is the first of its kind in our industry. As our Technical Field Rep, William is responsible for visiting customers to validate satisfaction with plated parts.

William is fully capable of resolving any issues on the spot to ensure that each plated part fits exactly to spec and helps elevate the interior look and feel of the aircraft. We added this role after listening to our customers and then crafting an innovative way to perform on-site reviews of operational aspects.

Excited to Elevate Your Aircraft Interior in 2021

Throughout this year’s pandemic, we appreciated the opportunity to collaborate with our customers on a case-by-case basis to provide the plating services you needed during this unprecedented period of change.

We look forward to continuing our efforts to introduce new ways of helping our customers in 2021. That’s why we want to hear from you. What services do you need? How we can further help elevate your aircraft interior?

We have the capabilities, teamwork, and technical expertise to help business jet owners, MRO facilities, vendors, suppliers, and aircraft interior designers meet your specific needs in the post-pandemic environment.

Give us a call today to find a plating solution for aircraft interior parts. Reach us toll-free at 800-949-0124 or locally in Houston at 713-666-0550. We look forward to strengthening our relationships with you in 2021 and beyond.

Whether you’re a private jet owner or operate a fleet of aircraft, having the best interior parts can make a world of difference to create the ideal look and feel for the aircraft.

We know that it can be challenging to find a reliable company to plate your aircraft interior parts, especially when facing a tight deadline. Fortunately, HighTech Finishing has the experience, expertise, and equipment to meet your timeline.

No matter what size, shape, or type of parts you need to be plated, we can supply the metal finishing. Consider the following reasons why HighTech Finishing should be your first call to schedule service and get your aircraft back in the air.

5 Points of Service: On-time Delivery of Truly Superior Metal Finishing

Consider how we lead the way in the aviation interior plating industry by providing the highest-quality plating for each customer order.

1. No COVID-19 Disruption

In the time since the coronavirus pandemic reached America in the first quarter, many companies and industries have experienced wholesale disruptions. But, at HighTech, we did not let COVID-19 slow us down.

We implemented high-quality health and safety measures to ensure that we could safely fulfill orders at our standard capacity. We are proud to report that our facility in Houston, Texas, has remained open throughout the entire pandemic. When you’re looking for expedited metal finishing service, we can readily accommodate your needs at our state-of-the-art facility.

2. Our 50-Point Quality-Control Process

We stand behind our work on every part that goes through our plating process. The driving force is our rigorous standards for quality control. We follow a certified 50-point decorative plating process to ensure that every piece that comes off the line is as durable and reliable as possible to meet your needs.

Our quality control process includes:

• Multiple Inspection Points. We pay attention to every detail with meticulous precision. If the part isn’t ready, we don’t stop until it’s up to our standards.
• Fit & Function. To ensure dependability, we test each part for proper operation before delivery.
• Expert Polishing. Our parts are not only functional, but they are beautiful. We polish each part multiple times to create a pristine look before it’s placed back into your aircraft interior. We can also add paint to make interior parts shine even brighter.

3. Patented Customization

For private jet or business jet owners, part of the appeal of owning a personal aircraft is that you can customize the interior look to match your vision. Custom finishes ensure that your aircraft is a work of art and becomes part of your identity.

We have the equipment to customize all plating to your specifications. Best of all, you don’t have to have a schematic upfront. We can work with you to determine which parts you want to enhance and then work together to draft ideas. From there, you can choose the metal finish that fits your style. Don’t settle for an ordinary look; let us make your plane unique and exciting by applying custom finishes to your interior parts.

4. Expedited Service

As a fleet operator or business owner, you can’t afford costly and time-consuming delays. That’s why we have the tools and expertise to ensure that you receive your order as quickly as possible without sacrificing quality.

Additionally, we can deliver parts for both small and large orders. Whether you need plating service for just a few interior parts or hundreds for your fleet, we can scale production as necessary to ensure on-time delivery.

5. Proven Results

The aviation industry rightfully follows some of the strictest standards in the world. As a jet owner or operator, you should have peace of mind about the quality of plated parts that are placed back inside your aircraft. At HighTech, we back our service with our ISO9001/AS9100 certification.

We are proud that our Quality Management System (QMS) meets all ISO9001 and AS9100 requirements. We guarantee the quality of each metal part that we plate, and the part won’t leave our facility until it meets our standards.

Contact HighTech Today For Expedited Metal Finishing

Don’t settle for interior aircraft parts that are “just good enough.” You can achieve the desired look to bring your vision to life. Our interior parts plating service will meet your timeline and exceed your expectations.

Contact us today to expedite metal finishing of your aircraft interior parts. We can be reached toll-free at 800-949-0124 or by email at info@htf.net.

MRO facilities that service aircraft have been affected in different ways by this year’s global pandemic. Some companies are riding out the wave and continuing to provide service at existing facilities, while other companies are expanding MRO operations to service aircraft that need to be overhauled.

If your company is continuing to provide MRO services and possibly expanding operations, we recommend partnering with our company to support new projects. We provide high-quality metal finishing services for aircraft interior parts that will help expedite your timeline and keep costs down.

Why Our Metal Finishing Services?

The pandemic has changed the way we collectively look at the aircraft interior. Cabins, seats, carpets, and other aspects of the aircraft interior need to be re-thought and re-configured in an effort to support health and safety.

Our company can directly integrate with these types of refurbishment projects by providing metal finishing services on the aircraft interior parts that need to be replaced in the reconfigured aircraft interior.

• We offer specialty finishes and custom matching.
• We can match colors from paint swatches, fabrics, woods, samples, or any other material found in the aircraft interior.
• We are capable of servicing standard, large, and odd-shaped aircraft interior pieces.
• We can replicate custom colors on every part, every time, creating a consistent look.
• We offer specialty polishing of small parts to maintain the tolerances of delicate pieces.

Designers and support teams working at MRO facilities have their hands full navigating the unique design requirements introduced by the pandemic. We can make the process easier as an integrated partner that follows a comprehensive 50-step decorative plating process to ensure the highest quality production, finish, and delivery of aircraft interior parts.

Our Process Ensures Consistency

We recognize that in these challenging times for the aircraft industry, MRO facilities need reliable partners that can support time, cost, and quality considerations.

We are proud to be recognized throughout the industry as one of the leading suppliers of plated aircraft interior parts because of our commitment to quality. And, because quality is embedded in everything we do, we can naturally support your timeline and budget.

Our company was recently recognized as the Supplier of the Year by one of our clients after we delivered 100 percent quality parts and achieved 100 percent on-time delivery for every order in 2019.

Additionally, we continue to innovate by introducing new ways of providing on-site services to clients. Earlier this year, we introduced a new Technical Field Representative role. No other plating company in the industry has invested in a dedicated support rep to visit clients on-site to review operational aspects and ensure we are providing the highest quality parts.

Contact HighTech Finishing for Interior Parts Plating

If your company has MRO expansion plans to serve more aircraft or simply needs support for ongoing refurbishment projects, we can provide needed support in a timely manner.

We encourage you to reach out to our team to discuss how we can match our metal finishing service with your operation. HighTech looks forward to serving your needs for interior parts plating to keep you on time and on budget completing aircraft refurbishments.

Contact us today to discuss how we can support your MRO needs. We can be reached toll-free at 800-949-0124 or by email at info@htf.net.

HighTech Finishing has successfully completed our annual ISO9001/AS9100 surveillance audit. We completed the audit with zero non-conformities, validating our commitment to quality control for aviation interior plating.

Due to this year’s pandemic, the week-long audit was performed virtually, which incorporated video conferencing with external auditors, digital information exchanges, and conversations with our staff. Our quality team and other departments came together to meet every requirement to satisfy the audit.

The end result was confirmation that our Quality Management System (QMS) meets all ISO9001 and AS9100 requirements and that our team was able to present and demonstrate to the auditor that our QMS is fully implemented.

Quality Control Embedded in Our Plating Process

Quality control (QC) comes naturally to our company, which is why our team was able to pull together appropriate records in a timely fashion to satisfy the audit.

It shows that no matter the unique circumstances related to this year’s pandemic or the unique nature of a virtual audit, our team is always ready to validate our commitment to meet customer expectations.

We believe our success is due to quality being embedded in everything we do. For example, our 50-step decorative plating process includes 17 QC checkpoints to ensure the highest degree of excellence in the production of aviation interior parts.

Our ISO9001/AS9100 certified process ensures consistency in delivering superior finishes for every part, every time. This is the expectation we have set for our customers and we strive to meet that expectation for each order.

Continuing to Elevate Quality in Aviation Interior Plating

Earlier this year, we announced that one of our customers, Rosen Aviation, named us their Supplier Quality Award winner.

The award was given to our company in recognition of 100 percent quality parts and 100 percent on-time delivery for every month in 2019. In total for the year, we delivered 174 parts with no defects and no delays.

The recognition from Rosen and our company’s successful completion of the annual ISO9001/AS9100 audit are two recent examples of how we continue to lead the industry in aviation interior plating.

We believe in our team, our capabilities, and our Quality Management System as we continue to deliver the highest-quality parts to aviation customers. Contact us today to discuss how we can support your aviation interior needs. We can be reached toll-free at 800-949-0124 or by email at info@htf.net.

This year’s global health crisis and the introduction of social distancing represents a seminal moment for the future of aircraft interior design.

Temporary adjustments will need to be built upon in future design plans. And, future design plans need to align with changes to customer orders and passenger expectations.

For interior designers of business jets, the challenge is finding the balance between passenger health and business needs.

For example, distance measures will need to be incorporated into passenger seating to limit potential risks associated with the exchange of breath, but without taking away from the need to collaborate, hold meetings, and complete business activity.

Interior designers will need to be creative in finding the way to strike this balance. This will help the business jet community as everyone strives to restore confidence in aircraft travel.

3 Creative Ways to Adjust Aircraft Interior Design

Consider these creative ways to strike the balance between protecting personal health through social distancing and supporting business collaboration.

1. Incorporate Built-in Partitions

In everyday life, we have seen good and bad examples of businesses using partitioning to separate customers and guests while in a confined space. When applied to aircraft interior design, one idea is including built-in partitions between passenger seats.

This will require adjustments to interior design plans to include partitions that can be utilized during the flight. This way, passengers can safely create a pod-like environment separating themselves from the other passengers or retract the partition to have conversations, collaborate, and hold meetings.

The visual challenge of incorporating a retractable partition is to avoid interfering with the interior aesthetic. This will require careful customization to match the other design aspects of the aircraft interior to meet customer specs and passenger expectations.

2. Create More Separate Environments

A creative idea for aircraft interior designers is creating more separate spaces or designated areas throughout the aircraft.

Many business jets have an open-space concept where passengers can freely walk through the cabin to take a seat or talk to other passengers. This may need to be adjusted to create designated areas for general discussion, separate isolation areas for each passenger, and designated meeting areas.

Consider the parallel of today’s co-working spaces that are trendy in the business community. There are typically open desk areas, separate offices away from the general population, and designated conference areas.

This idea of creating designated spaces for each activity will help meet cleaning and sanitation needs to maintain a safe environment, while empowering passengers to understand their role in helping support a healthy environment.

3. Consider Moveable Seating

A primary challenge facing wide-body, passenger aircraft is what to do with the middle seat. The temporary solution during the health crisis has been to mark off this seat to support social distancing. Now, some companies are proposing plans to make the middle seat face a different direction.

When thinking about seating for business jets, interior designers have the opportunity to think through innovative seating arrangements to embed social distancing into the interior design.

Safety is obviously a concern if seating is not bolted down to the rail or track running along the aircraft floor. However, there is an opportunity to incorporate more flexible seating arrangements by reconfiguring the railing system to allow for certain seats to be moved.

Support for Aircraft Interior Design Changes

When incorporating social distancing measures into new aircraft interior designs, a key consideration is ensuring that all interior elements are carefully coordinated to optimize the passenger experience.

Fabrics, wood, carpeting, and metal pieces should be complementary to enhance the visual appeal and overall aesthetic.

HighTech Finishing integrates into the aircraft interior design process by custom color-matching metal pieces to the aircraft interior design. We provide high-quality decorative metal parts that fit perfectly into the aircraft interior.

Our expert team will deliver high-quality metal parts to the exact specifications of the order. As you work through new design plans in response to this year’s health crisis, we will work with you to complete each order on-time and of the highest quality.

Contact us today for custom metal finishes to complement any interior layout. Reach us toll-free at 800-949-0124 or email info@htf.net.

In the middle of March, business activity came to a screeching halt. Conferences were postponed or canceled. Business trips were scrapped. Meetings were moved from in-person to online.

The business aviation market certainly felt the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic when business aviation flight activity dropped 46.8% in a single week.

Additionally, for the entire month of March, all flight activity decreased by 31.7% compared to March 2019.

The nature of how business is conducted was materially altered due to stay-at-home, work-at-home orders recommended by national, state, and local officials. This impacted many of our partners and customers in the business aviation industry.

Now that we are in the midst of the transition period and looking ahead to the recovery period, it’s time for companies to think ahead and form their response to the “new normal” of the business aviation industry.

Forming the best response is especially important in anticipation of business jet travelers looking to re-establish habits and patterns for business travel in 2020. Also, many companies and individuals will be preparing to attend conferences that were re-scheduled for later in 2020 or moved to 2021.

Adjust for Changes in Business Aviation Order Cycles

Whether your company is an aircraft manufacturer, completion center, refurbishment center, or designer in the business aviation sector, you will need to account for changes in order cycles.

Business aviation has traditionally been cyclical in nature. And, having been in business since 1984, we have seen our fair share of ups and downs in the industry.

However, most changes take time to be recognized and realized; this change is different because of the sudden and abrupt nature of the disruption directly affecting the business aviation industry.

If looking for a similar event to draw from when assessing changes to order cycles, look back to 2008. During the global economic crisis, many companies scaled back on business travel, affecting the order cycle.

• What was the impact on your business?
• Did your company experience a slowdown in orders?
• Did you actually have a backlog that allowed you to continue normal production?

See if you can find similarities to this year’s disruption and identify next steps to prepare to meet the change to customer orders.

An Additional Consideration for 2020 vs. 2008

As we know, technology continues to advance at a rapid pace. This includes technology that supports the supply chain in business aviation.

We recommend taking steps now to optimize your supply chain so that you can quickly and nimbly respond to changes. Embedding this flexibility into your supply chain will help mobilize your people and resources to fulfill new customer requests.

One way that we can support your supply chain is by integrating the delivery of our high-quality decorative metal parts for business jets and related aircraft.

HighTech Finishing has been named Supplier of the Year by many companies during our history, most recently by Rosen Aviation. One of the keys to our success is our approach to customer service because we view our customers as partners.

During this time of crisis response and attempting to plan for an unknown future, it helps to have a partner in the business aviation industry that can intelligently support your company.

To help meet customer orders and optimize the supply chain, work with us to deliver high-quality, metal-plated parts for the aircraft interior. Our decorative plating process ensures the highest quality production, finish, and delivery of the aviation interior product.

Specific to Rosen, we proudly achieved 100% on-time delivery and 100% quality parts in 2019. During these rapidly-changing market conditions, you need a partner that can deliver quality parts with no defects exactly when needed.

HighTech is here to help companies in the business aviation sector. Contact us today to discuss the delivery of plated interior parts. We can get through this disruption together.