COTS vs. Aircraft-Grade Appliances: Comparing Advantages & Disadvantages

August 2025

An aircraft-grade Espresso machine is a high-dollar item with a price tag beginning near $30,000 and a lead time averaging 12 weeks.  

It almost makes you want to ask, “Why can’t I put my home espresso machine or any other off-the-shelf appliance in my aircraft?” The short answer is you can. But it’s not as simple as shopping at the local appliance store and plugging it in.

In this article, we discuss COTS units, how they compare to aircraft-grade units, and the advantages and disadvantages of having them installed on your aircraft.

COTS

COTS (commercial off the shelf) appliances are becoming a popular option among operators looking to refurbish their aircraft’s interior. Although they are a lower-cost alternative and more readily available than aviation-grade units, they are labor-intensive and require many extra steps, including engineering, fire testing, and load analysis, before being approved for installation.

For safety reasons, the FAA has added requirements before these units can be cleared for installation on an aircraft:

Avionics Safety: COTS units must undergo extensive ground testing procedures to identify potential electromagnetic interferences with the aircraft’s cockpit avionics.

Fire Safety: All units endure extensive burn testing to ensure they are not a fire hazard while in flight. For this reason, we require operators to purchase at least two, but we recommend purchasing three exact COTS units. The first unit is used for the burn test, while the second is used to install, and the third is kept as a spare. Although not required, a spare is nice to have if the installed unit begins to malfunction. These tests are required again unless you can find the EXACT COTS replacement unit installed on your aircraft. For further fire safety, custom-engineered fireboxes are required and installed to hold the COTS unit in the galley and stored behind galley doors.  

Electrical Safety: New electrical wiring and components may be necessary when installing COTS units. These might include additional breakers, door microwave switches, power inverters, and in some cases, a new pressure transducer cut-off switch. Depending on your model aircraft, installing these new electrical components involves extensive wiring and the removal of the galley

Aircraft-Grade Appliances

Although aircraft-grade units are more expensive and have a long lead time, they are simply easier to install and certify. Designed for use on an aircraft, they come with all the necessary testing, requiring no additional components or wiring. They can be displayed on the galley counters and, if necessary, are easily swapped out for a new unit.   

Trends

The installation of aircraft-grade versus COTS units during interior completions depends on the extent of the interior work scope.

COTS units are gaining popularity among aircraft undergoing interior reconfiguration. In comparison, aircraft-grade appliances are still a popular installation on aircraft, having a completely new interior with a custom galley installed.