Elite Traveler July-August 2018

DISCOVER

elite traveler JULY/AUG 2018 43

Studies show that shades of violet and blue may help with the production of melatonin

Aviation

JET CFO If you have ever wondered if your jet is efficient enough, or if you are overspending on fuel or maintenance, you’re not alone. Now, Portside is entering the market, billing itself as a CFO for your aircraft and offering a data-driven solution. Its sophisticated software has already earned it contracts with Hollywood A-Listers and the who’s who of Silicon Valley, saving some of its clients $500,000 to $1m annually. By looking at actual invoices, not aggregate or survey numbers, it can pinpoint how much you could save by refueling at a different operator or using a different maintenance company. The software also tracks crew training, jet maintenance, routes flown and operating metrics, to name a few. Eventually, it can advise whether you’re in need of an upgrade or downgrade by overlaying different jets over routes you have flown and providing cost differences. Even if your jet is efficient and Portside can’t find you financial savings, many still become customers because they can outsource their jet management and save themselves the ultimate luxury: time. Contact Alek Vernitsky, CEO, avernitsky@portside.co, +1 415 706 4708, portside.co

REACH FOR THE STARS

Rockwell Collins’s shortlisted entry in the Crystal Cabin awards, the Secant Luminous Panel, is a micro-LED lighting display that is designed to be incorporated into the interior panels of an aircraft. This captivating display can be customized at the touch of a button, but, as Stephen Scover, vice president and general manager of lighting and integrated systems at Rockwell Collins explains, there’s much more to it than just a mesmerizing light show: “There is a direct relationship in the production of cortisol, a stress hormone, with lighting color temperatures and intensity, so there are definitely elements to enhance as well as things to avoid.” The company has also found a correlation between the intensity and color temperature of evening colors, such as violets and blues, with the production of melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep patterns (hence the purple nebula shown above). In terms of lighting affecting your state of mind, Scover says dynamic mood lighting is an emerging trend, with requests coming in for “enhanced sunsets and sunrises, dynamic evening scenes and the ability to create a variety of simultaneously changing

Above Carefully designed lighting ensures maximum productivity on board

been seen as a primary way to enhance the mood of a room, especially when working in a limited space. Greenpoint’s design director, Annika Svore Wicklund, explains how she uses this as a tool in her designs: “From helping create a lively work and social environment with bright light and colored LED accents, to dimming the cabin and creating a calm, relaxing ambiance to sleep beneath a starry night sky, lighting provides many benefits.” So whether you’re trying to catch some shut-eye under an artificial Milky Way, or crunching numbers at 30,000 ft, don’t underestimate the importance of onboard lighting. rockwellcollins.com, greenpnt.com

Words Thea Halstead, Kristen Shirley. Photos Greenpoint Technologies, Inc environments within the cabin.” From an interior design perspective, lighting has long