Soham and I were engineers at Airbus India when we first met and started working together. We were sent on an official visit to London from the company, and Soham was excited since it was his first international trip. He bought a neck pillow to use on the 12-hour flight because he wanted to be comfortable. Halfway through the flight, I was being entertained with the many poses he made to find the perfect spot. His efforts were in vain because the exact opposite of what he hoped happened. I wasn’t laughing much after we landed because I had severe jet lag, back, and neck pain, along with stiff feet. He and I were in the same discomfort even though Soham took the effort to make himself comfortable.

We discussed ways that long haul travel could be redesigned to give travelers a better experience. Economy class seats are not designed for sleeping since they have limited leg space and reclining options. Tired and sleep-deprived we got back home, and really began to ponder the problem. We were sure that modifying airline seats would solve the problem of economy class travelers. We did thorough research on products available, their prices, and what problems they were trying to solve.

We approached Airbus BizLab; a unit of Airbus, a global aerospace accelerator, with the idea of a fully functional modular seat for economy class travelers. It would aim to help them sleep in a front sleeping posture as well as use their laptops or tablets. The management loved our idea and wanted to help us. Unfortunately, it would have taken us at least 2 years to get certified from government authorities, and regulatory bodies to enter the market. It was too long to wait, so we hit the drawing board again and brainstormed ways to bring comfort to travelers. With our core idea in mind, we pivoted from modifying the seat to creating a comfort kit that can be used as hand baggage.