Formation Design Group is excited to share that industrial designer Ken Kirtland has received a 2022 Crystal Cabin Award for his air travel infrastructure project, Portal.

Portal was his capstone design project at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial and product design. His project won in the Crystal Cabin’s “University” category.

The Crystal Cabin is the only “international prize for innovation in the aircraft cabin,” highlighting ideas that support greater sustainability, digitization, and flexibility in the industry.

Designed to address the painful realities of travel in America, Portal is an electric short-haul airline that would offer a calmer, more immersive flight experience, thanks to slower speeds and an emphasis on enjoying the view.

It’s also an environmentally-friendly alternative, using a zero-emission aircraft that would travel between local and regional stops. Planes would have a range of 1,000 miles and carry about 30 passengers per flight.

According to Ken, “Allowing regional flights between thousands of under-utilized, non-primary airports, Portal reframes air travel to transform the accepted drawbacks of electric aircraft into advantages.”

Currently, commercial jet engines often sacrifice riders’ comfort to maximize efficiency, and the high costs of jet fuel discourage short flights as well as flights to smaller airports. Portal, on the other hand, aims to provide a passenger-oriented experience that instead maximizes comfort — while also cutting operating costs and keeping less major cities on the map.

Read more about Portal and all of the 2022 Crystal Cabin Awards here.