How Air Travel May Change Forever After Coronavirus
Flying Sanitized: How Air Travel May Change Forever After Coronavirus
The coronavirus pandemic has hit commercial aviation hard, and many of us who are used to flying frequently find ourselves wondering when we might fly again. Perhaps more importantly, how different will it look when we do?
Aviation marketing consultancy SimpliFlying recently published a report which offers some answers to that question. And in their view, the future of flying is a highly sanitized one. Not only that, but they expect many of the changes will be here to stay. This will no doubt come as good news to most, as passengers will be happy to fly in an exhaustively cleaned airplane full of passengers that have passed a health check. But will it fundamentally change the experience of air travel?
Red Cross volunteers prepare to supervise body temperature scanning on arriving passengers with.
“Welcome to the airline flight of 2021. Before boarding, please walk through the disinfection tunnel and thermal scanner, and have your bags ‘sanitagged.’ You won’t find any in-flight magazine to entertain you on board, but look out for the disinfectant wipes as part of the in-flight service. And don’t count on being allowed on the aircraft if you start coughing at the gate.” So begins the press release from SimpliFlying.
The lengthy report is entitled “The Rise Of Sanitised Travel – 70 Areas Of The Passenger Journey Set To Change Forever”, and as much as their predictions would require sweeping changes to current protocols at airports and on planes, most of them also seem very plausible.
An airport security officer checks body temperatures at the entrance to the Kuala Lumpur …Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
SimpliFlying says we can expect some of the following as early as later this year. In fact, a number of these technologies are already being trialed and tested in airports as they prepare to open up to more flights and passengers in the coming weeks and months (at least if all goes to plan.)
Touchless cabins and check-in terminals. They say “seatback pockets will be left empty and there will be touchless kiosks (scan via a code, or even through voice commands) in airport terminals.” Abu Dhabi is reportedly now trialing touchless check-in kiosks that can even scan passengers for basic health and direct them to further screening if, for example, they appear to have a fever.
In-flight janitors. Just as we saw Sky Marshalls on planes after 9/11, they say, we may now come to expect janitors onboard planes whose only job is to make sure the cabin is kept clean as can be throughout the flight.
“Sanitagging” of bags. We may be in for yet another added step at the airport with bags needing to pass through “fogging, electrostatic or UV-disinfection.”
A worker cleans the screens at a Delta self-check-in kiosk at Ronald Reagan Washington National ..Getty Images
Travelers may need to pass through thermal scanners and disinfection tunnels (the latter is already being tested in Hong Kong). Much of the existing seating in gate areas and so on will be closed off to ensure physical distancing.
While much of this sounds positive (who doesn’t want a janitor keeping the plane sparkling, coronavirus or not?), SimpliFlying predicts it will lead to added waits and hassle at airports as people and bags need to be scanned and/or disinfected. That could mean needing to arrive at the airport four hours before the flight – and unlike now when airlines say three hours but you can really show up much later, in this case, the formalities may very well need that much time, especially if the airport and flight are busy.
A passenger wearing protective gear is seen at Heathrow Airport in London on May 1, 2020. (Photo by. Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images
According to SimpliFlying CEO Shashank Nigam, “9/11 changed travel completely with added security checks and longer check-in times. The impact of COVID-19 on air travel will be even more far-reaching when it comes to sanitation and cleanliness.”
“Getting large numbers of people flying again will depend on giving them the peace of mind that they won’t be rubbing shoulders – or bumping elbows in Economy – with infectious fellow travelers.”
Finally, airplanes will need to undergo a deep clean after every flight,
which will put pressure on turnaround times. Low-cost airlines especially have used quick turns of planes to keep utilization up and costs down, so this may come as a particular shock to them.
“Enhanced cleaning regimes could spell the end of the 30-minute turnaround, upon which many low-cost carriers base much of their business model,” said Nigam.
A Fiumicino airport employee displays a “Smart-Helmet” portable thermo scanner to screen passengers … AFP via Getty Images
One thing is clear from all this: things are going to change, and probably quite a bit. What remains to be seen is just how much, and for how long. And other questions remain: for instance especially if infection rates drop significantly, will any of these cleaning procedures eventually be deemed too wasteful and time-consuming by a frustrated traveling public who just wants to get on their way? It will be fascinating to watch as it develops.
Written By Gabriel Leigh Forbes
