No two plane rides are ever the same – different passengers, different crew, a different six-year-old kicking your seat.
But on numerous flights, you may have noticed one major constant: blue seats.
Aside from a few notable exceptions including Virgin Atlantic (red), Iberia and Swiss Airlines (brown), and Aer Lingus (green), major carriers like Ryanair, KLM, Air France and Wizz Air all stick to blue-hued upholstery.
No, it’s not some coincidental favourite shade of airline CEOs. British Airways and Ryanair haven’t peer pressured others to use their brand palettes either.
As it turns out, there’s actually some science behind the common cabin colour scheme.
And not only is it an intentional choice, it’s one specifically geared towards improving how passengers feel on board.
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The psychological benefit of blue
According to Nigel Goode, lead aviation designer and co-founder at aircraft interiors firm, Priestman Goode, ‘it’s all about making the travelling experience less stressful and blue is said to evoke a feeling of calm.’
Speaking to The Telegraph about why so many airlines adopted it into their seat design, he continues: ‘Blue became the colour of choice because it’s a conservative, non-contentious, corporate shade that symbolises being trustworthy and safe.’
In terms of the specific shades favoured, Nigel notes that ‘while some of the more budget airlines might use brasher, bolder shades, most others go with muted tones’ that ‘create a home-like relaxing feel’.
So, what is it about blue that calms us down and gets us prepared to cruise at 30,000 feet?
It doesn’t take a genius to recognise that the colour blue reminds us of water – potentially prompting tranquil thoughts of gently floating by on a lazy river. But this common sense observation is backed up by extensive data.
Do you think blue is the most calming colour?
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Yes
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No
In an international report by paper company G.F Smith, which asked more than 26,000 people from over 100 countries the feelings they associate with different colours, dark blue was voted most likely to inspire calmness.
It’s also been the world’s favourite for some time now, trouncing the rest of the rainbow in a 2015 YouGov survey of respondents across four continents.
As well as being wildly popular among both men and women, it was the clear winner across age groups, racial subgroups, and political affiliation.
Rishi Kapoor, founder and CEO of Nanak Flights, previously told Reader’s Digest that for many, getting on a plane is one of the most anxiety-inducing things they’ll ever do.
So, although blue interiors ‘might seem like an insignificant detail’, in reality ‘it’s one that helps make flying the best way to travel.’
It can keep you cool
In March 2002, Boeing released a report on ‘the psychology of comfort in airplane interior design’ in which Virginia Tripp, a Teague designer who studied colour psychology, claimed ‘colours can influence a person’s perception of humidity, temperature and aroma.’
I know what you’re thinking: planes are already bitterly freezing, why would we need to feel even colder?
But there’s nothing worse than a claustrophobic stuffy air cabin — an issue lessened by blue seats, which play clever tricks on our minds to keep us from overheating, while also giving off an air of freshness.
It hides stains for longer
Beyond the psychological aspects, one theory doing the rounds online is that airlines choose blue for soft furnishings because the colour hides stains better, and for longer.
As such, they have to spend less time and money cleaning and updating their seats.
Planes can be exceedingly messy places, with passengers spilling drinks and crushing Pringles into the seat crevices. So if dark blue furnishings hide this multitude of sins – cutting down ongoing cleaning costs in the process – the colour scheme definitely makes good business sense.
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