meREWARDS lets you get coupon deals, and earn cashback when you complete surveys, dine, travel and shop with our partners
SINGAPORE: Airlines round the world are expected to face a long and painful road to recovery.
Border closures and air restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with persistent considerations of overcrowded and confined spaces, will make it difficult to increase demand, at least in the near future.
So what can airlines do to ensure their continued survival beyond tapping government support, accessing credit facilities and even considering mergers?
The experts’ response lies in restoring public trust through airlines by making travel as safe as possible.
This means, however, that travellers will have to get used to stringent health checks, minimal inflight entertainment and even the way food is served on board.
Here are five ways flying is set to be different once people can travel again when countries start lifting their restrictions.
1. INTERMEDIATE SEATS CAN BE LOCKED
Several airlines, including Garuda Indonesia, are planning to keep middle seats empty.
This, Garuda CEO Irfan Setiaputra said, will keep its aircraft’s cargo “significantly reduced,” even if Indonesia raises its existing regulatory limits on flight capacity.
For example, on Garuda’s Boeing 737 aircraft with a configuration of 3 plus 3 seats in economy class, the middle seats will be emptied “so that there is a distance between passengers in the same row,” he said. (See the episode here).
In the United States, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways have blocked seats in the call for social estrangement.
Recent research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimates that blocking the middle seat on airplanes could halve the risk of being infected by the coronavirus — with the assumption that all passengers are wearing masks.
But if airlines are forced to stay in the seat of the vacant environment, “they probably couldn’t make money,” said Matthew Driskill, editor-in-chief of Asian Aviation.
Compared to the times before COVID-19, air fares will be more expensive “safely,” Irfan said. “We’re in talks with the regulator to make sure it’s worth accumulating appropriate levels.”
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that social estrangement measures on aircraft would “move the aviation economy” by reducing the load to 62%, “well below” the industry’s average equilibrium point to 77%.
“Compared to 2019, air fares are expected to accumulate particularly, between 43 and 54%, depending on the region, only to reach the break-even point,” IATA said on its website.
2. WAIT FOR MINIMIZED INTERACTION
There will be not only fewer passengers, but also less interaction on board.
On Garuda flights, the crew enforce safe distancing “from the moment (passengers) board the aircraft” to when they sit down and when the plane lands, said senior flight attendant Thamy Karamina.
“We want to make sure that the interaction on the plane spreads the virus,” Irfan said. This includes the interaction between cabin equipment and passengers.
“In business class, we kneel before the intelligent touch of our eyes when we interact with passengers,” Thamy said. “The purpose was to make passengers feel more comfortable. We’re not doing that right now.”
United Airlines has also reduced contact between flight attendants and customers, such as snack and beverage service. And their passengers would be invited to disembark in teams of five rows at once.
Thamy feels that travellers will see the merits of the new measures.
“This is a new form of attention that we’re giving our passengers. In the past, passengers would be happy to get attentive service, but now, social distancing is part of the service,” she said. “It’ll make passengers feel more comfortable.”
3. INFLIGHT SERVICES WILL BE PARED
Passengers will be served “properly”, promised Irfan. But with the new realities, that service will look different in other ways too.
IATA regional vice president (Asia-Pacific) Conrad Clifford said on-board catering could be “very simple”.
“It’ll be delivered to you probably as you board, and then it’s up to you to sort of serve yourself,” he added. “There won’t be the elegant, big meals that you’ve seen in the past, unfortunately.”
Singapore Airlines, for example, has suspended meal services for flights within Southeast Asia and to China; upon boarding, passengers are given a snack bag with water and refreshments instead.
Newspapers, magazines and documentation in the registry have also been removed from the SIA aircraft and replaced through its electronic library, which can be obtained through the SingaporeAir cellular app. This provides access to more than 150 titles from foreign newspapers and magazines.
Some airlines have even disposed of pillows.
4. THE USE OF MASKS WILL BE MANDATORY
What IATA has is that team members and passengers wear masks, “to minimize the threat of infection,” Clifford said.
“(But) we don’t need to see too much movement around the cockpit to lessen any threat of air movement from other potentially inflamed people to other people,” he added.
THE SIA cabin team will wear a mask in your flight, as well as goggles or visors when interacting with customers and gloves to serve meals.
Since last month, all airlines in the SIA organization also have passengers with a “care kit” containing a surgical mask, antibacterial wipes and hand sanitizer.
American Airlines and United Airlines have even taken steps to prohibit passengers from refusing to wear masks.
5. COVID-19 TESTS CAN BE A STANDARD
As it resumes globally, COVID-19 tests can become the new standard.
IATA said last month that this deserves to take a stand before or after the trip. A positive result would mean that the passenger cannot as planned.
If proof is required on arrival and a passenger tests positive, then the passenger must be treated according to the needs of the host country, according to the agreement.
Hong Kong International Airport was one of the first airports in the world to introduce the mandatory COVID-19 check-up in April, where incoming travelers are sent to an offsite control center. They will also have to wait for the result of their check at a designated location.
In South Korea, the government established COVID-19 “tour” control stations in March at Incheon International Airport, where a medical member takes samples of arriving passengers.
Newcomers will also have to download a government smartphone app that tracks their location and asks them to report any symptoms, Reuters reported.
With such measures proposed or already implemented, adding a safe distance, Singaporeans “can expect inconvenience and delays” when air is regained, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said at a Facebook post in May.
“But the protection of public fitness will not be compromised if we need passengers to fly again,” he added.
Watch this episode here. Insight airs on Thursdays at nine p.m.
Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram