Global Inflight Products is headquartered in Richmond, Washington. Zine Badissy founded the company in 1995 and today GIP USA describes itself as a “one-stop shop solution in the aviation industry”.
At the 2025 APEX/IFSA Global EXPO, Stuart Forster talked with the Global Inflight Products’ President and Chairman.
How did Global Inflight Products start?
It started in ’95 after one of the chairmen of the airlines at the IATA meeting in Warsaw asked me to help them with inflight products.
At that time, I already had a company makiing spare parts for airlines.
We started from aluminium casseroles, then we started developing our own designs and manufacturing. We partner with many factories to make sure we can control the quality and the price.
What were the main challenges of getting into the industry?
The challenges at the very start were because of our size. The large airlines wanted assurance that we could deliver. At that time, Continental and Northwest Airlines were very good customers of ours. We started doing cups and earbuds, and that’s how it got us into the industry.
How have things developed?
We gave ourselves, about six years ago, the objective of replacing all plastics and aluminium from our onboard services. We succeeded. Now we can offer the entire set of products in plant fibre.
We can deliver environmentally friendly products.
We are a one-stop shop, from toothpick to trolley. Delta approached us, maybe more than a decade ago, trying to reduce the number of suppliers, and we were one, because we can deliver all the products.
Which products are you launching at the 2025 IFSA Global EXPO?
We don’t have any plastics. Everything here is really sustainable. It’s already fully compostable.
We’re launching a comfort kit. It has a mattress. It can be made of foam or air. The mattress is almost disposable. The passenger can take it home: we deliver it with a bag. The mattress with a bag is only $2.99. It’s a lot cheaper than having to dry clean a mattress and it has good comfort.
In the same package, we have a pillow and a duvet. The whole thing is compact, so it doesn’t take too much space on the seat. The packaging has a nice airline logo on it. It’s comfortable and has a very low price.
We have also this new blanket that’s made from recycled water bottles – rPET. It’s very soft. We can have any colour and any size, and they are priced at $1.50. It’s marvellous for the environment, and it’s very comfortable.
Looking ahead, what can people expect from GIP USA?
We’re working on a new, sustainable headphone. Everything in the headphone can be recycled. It has a very high fidelity and is very soft on the ear with a movable pad that’s easy to replace. We have a whole series of them, collapsible or not. That makes a big difference. We went to help gain that high-yield passenger.
What’s next for you?
Next is to bring in anything that’s environmentally helpful because that’s my objective – to help our environment. Our objective – all in our industry – is to look for recyclable products and compostable products. Passengers are asking for it and will be pleased to see that onboard.
Helping the environment is a great satisfaction for me personally. I am a farmer as well, so I am very close to that. I grow apples and cherries in the state of Washington, so I am very close to our earth and to our environment. All my farms are organic…I planted about half a million trees.
