Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 19, 2026

Passenger service unit

A passenger service unit (PSU) is an aircraft component situated above each row in the overhead panel above the passenger seats in the cabin of airliners. Among other things, a PSU contains reading lights, loudspeakers for announcements, illuminated signs, buttons to call for assistance, air condition vents, and automatically deployed oxygen masks in case of cabin depressurisation.

Last revised
Jun 19, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
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149 w
Citations
2
Source
PECO Passenger Service Unit for the Boeing 737 source ↗

A passenger service unit (PSU) is an aircraft component situated above each row in the overhead panel above the passenger seats in the cabin of airliners. Among other things, a PSU contains reading lights, loudspeakers for announcements, illuminated signs (to remind people that the cabin is a no-smoking zone and to wear a seatbelt), buttons to call for assistance (though these are mounted on the armrest on some aircraft), air condition vents, and automatically deployed oxygen masks in case of cabin depressurisation.1

May be absent or simplified on the smallest regional aircraft or on some very early-generation airliners 2

Oxygen masks deployed from a PSU source ↗
References

References

  1. "Master Minimum Equipment List (MMEL) Guidance Book" (PDF). Transport Canada. Government of Canada. July 2023. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
  2. "Passenger Service Unit (PSU)". SKYbrary Aviation Safety. EUROCONTROL / Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2026-03-01.