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Asia-Pacific carriers are gradually welcoming passengers on board while scrambling for funds to remain in the air
As they restart flying, airlines have launched an education campaign to convince regulators that filling every seat on aircraft will not transmit COVID-19. Not everybody is listening with some airlines open to keeping passengers happy by leaving the middle seats of aircraft empty.
June 1st 2020
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has unveiled Takeoff, its comprehensive blueprint for risk-based temporary measures for air transport operations during COVID-19 and the restarting of global flying. Read More » The next bit, persuading 192 countries and their airlines to adopt a universal set of guidelines to overcome passenger fears of contracting COVID-19 inflight, will be the hard part especially as the guidelines are not mandatory.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) strongly supports Takeoff, but is concerned a worldwide patchwork of regulations will be introduced to the industry that will be onerous in application for carriers and irritating and inconvenient for passengers. The global airline body has urged governments to quickly and unilaterally adopt the new global framework for restoration of air connectivity.
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Takeoff – ICAO Council approved Guidance for Air Travel through the COVID-19 Public Health Crisis – has delivered an important victory for airlines in the debate about the empty middle seat onboard. Takeoff said there should be “physical distancing to the extent feasible and implementation of adequate risk-based measures where distancing is not feasible, for example aircraft cabins”.
Takeoff advocates a phased restart to aviation shaped by risk-based measures that “will mitigate the risk of transmission of COVID-19 during the travel process”.
“This layering of measures should give travelers and crew the confidence they need to fly again. We are committed to working with our partners to continuously improve these measures as medical science, technology and the pandemic evolve,” de Junaic said.
Takeoff is one element of the work of ICAO’s COVID-19 Aviation Recovery Task force (CART). CART’s team of aviation experts also urged governments “to avoid a global patchwork of incompatible health safety measures”.
Whatever happens, argues the airline body as well as Airports Council International (ACI) World, governments must ensure measures introduced for their operations in the wake of COVID-19 are supported by scientific evidence and are consistent across the world.
CART is working with States and regional bodies on the industry’s recovery from the coronavirus and is informed by advice from the World Health Organisation and supported by IATA, Airports Council International, the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation and the International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industries Associations.
Critical to the return to the “new normal” of flying will be social distancing on onboard, including empty middle seats. Empty middle seats reduce the maximum load factor for a flight to 62%, well below the average industry breakeven load factor of 77%.
With fewer seats to sell, unit costs would rise sharply. Compared with 2019, airfares would need to increase by 43% to 54% depending on the region to break even.
Already, in India, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered domestic and international airlines to keep the middle seat empty if passenger load factor and capacity allow it. Members of the same family can sit together but free masks and face coverings must be worn onboard, the DGCA said. If a seat between two passengers is occupied, the person in the seat must be provided with additional safety garments such as a “wraparound” gown.
IATA’s medical advisor, New Zealander, Dr David Powell, said the association’s stance against leaving the middle seat empty inflight is based on scientific evidence. Powell, a specialist occupational physician who was chief medical officer of Air New Zealand for 12 years, said the air circulated on passenger jets was not a cause for concern.
Recycled air on modern aircraft is treated by the same filtering system used in operating theatres, High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA). Dr Powell also pointed out air in an aircraft cabin does not flow horizontally along the cabin but vertically, from ceiling to floor, again reducing the chance of germs being spread.
Dr Powell is supported by Qantas Group medical director, Dr Ian Hosegood, who said data showed the risk of catching the coronavirus on an aircraft was already extremely low. “That’s due to a combination of factors, including the cabin air filtration system, the fact people don’t sit face-to-face and the high backs of aircraft seats acting as a physical barrier,” Dr Hosegood said.
“As far as the virus goes, an aircraft cabin is a very different environment to other forms of public transport. Social distancing on an aircraft is not practical compared with on the ground. Given the low transmission risk on board, we don’t believe it [empty middle seat] is necessary in order to be safe.”
Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) director general, Subhas Menon, said: “Departure screening procedures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 should preferably be applied before travellers board their flights. Other measures such as leaving the middle seat empty have been suggested, but would make air travel much more costly without any meaningful public benefit in terms of risk reduction.”
Even before any globally harmonized rules have been decided, individual airlines are introducing their own health safety regulations to convince passengers it will be safe to travel once flights resume in a meaningful way.
Leading Asia-Pacific carriers, All Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Qantas Airways and Singapore Airlines have developed detailed procedures, digitally accessed if preferred, to inform passengers of new travel procedures while COVID-19 remains a threat to public health.
Generally similar, they included deeper disinfecting and cleaning of aircraft cabins, compulsory face masks and health self-declarations. ANA has gone as far as warning that anyone without a mask may be refused boarding.
In the meantime, IATA is strongly urging governments to find alternatives to maintaining or introducing arrival quarantine measures as part of post-pandemic travel restrictions. An April survey it conducted showed 86% of travelers were somewhat or very concerned about being quarantined while traveling and 69% of recent travelers would not consider travelling if it involved a 14-day quarantine period.
“We need a solution for safe travel that addresses two challenges. It must give passengers confidence to travel safely and without undue hassle. And it must give governments confidence that they are protected from importing the virus,” the IATA boss said.
ICAO’s commonsense COVID-19 management measures
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has produced a set of guidelines, Takeoff, to contain the risk of contracting COVID-19 inflight. Major measures are: • Wearing of face coverings and masks by passengers and aviation workers • Routine sanitation and disinfection of all areas with potential for human contact and transmission • Health screening, which could include pre and post flights, self-declarations, temperature screening and visual observation “conducted by health professionals” • Contact tracing for passengers and aviation employees with updated contact information requested in the self-declaration form and interaction between passengers and governments be done through government portals. • Passenger health declarations be in line with relevant health authorities and electronic tools be encouraged for declarations • Testing if and when real-time, rapid and reliable testing becomes available |
