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In the new era of air travel, briefly:
- Armies of robotic cleaners patrolling airport concourses, disinfecting check-in counters and ticket kiosks.
- Boarding aircraft where hand gestures and eye movements open overhead stowage bins and navigate our inflight entertainment screens.
- Astronaut-style anti-Covid-19 flight attendant suits.
- Validation that travelers are Covid 19-free, using a system whereby passengers travel with a QR code that is either green, yellow or red.
- Middle seats to remain empty.
- Personal protective equipment (PPE) to be a requirement.
Paul Sillers; illustrations by Will Mullery, CNN • Updated 21st May 2020
(CNN) — As the world slowly eases its way out of the Covid-19 lockdown, we’re on the verge of a new era in air travel.
We could soon encounter armies of robotic cleaners patrolling airport concourses, disinfecting check-in counters and ticket kiosks. We might see passengers wafting through security and baggage checkpoints without touching anything.
And we might be boarding aircraft where hand gestures and eye movements open overhead stowage bins and navigate our inflight entertainment screens.
Everything could become touch-free. Out go the tailored uniforms, in come astronaut-style anti-Covid-19 flight attendant suits.
Most of these concepts are trials but could soon morph into realities that become as ubiquitous as the biometric gates and body scanners to which we’ve already become accustomed at airport terminals.
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Dichter points to stringent measures implemented in China requiring validation that travelers are Covid 19-free, using a system whereby passengers travel with a QR code that is either green, yellow or red. Green means they’ve been tested and are free of the virus, and authorities know exactly where passengers have been.
“You need to scan in and scan out of every location, your temperature is checked multiple times, you’re signing forms. It’s hard to imagine those kinds of processes implemented in the West.”But data and tracking are key to our return to the skies.
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Dichter expects positive reaction from passengers to the middle seat experiments that some airlines are launching. Colorado’s Frontier Airlines briefly toyed with making passengers pay extra to keep the middle seat free, while Europe’s Easyjet has also proposed leaving middle seats empty.
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In the new era of flight, we can expect personal protective equipment (PPE) to be integral to the passenger experience as airlines are beginning to demand — rather than request — their use.
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“At least for the whole of 2020, passengers are going to be wearing masks,” says Federico Heitz, CEO of Kaelis, a manufacturer of airline on-board supplies that is providing more than 20 airlines with PPE for crew and passengers.
Heitz tells CNN Travel there’s high demand for its Self-Protective Pocket Pouch (SP.3), a package that includes a mask, gloves, hand sanitizer, alcohol wipes and an info leaflet with tips on how to prevent the virus spreading. The pouch can be customized to align with the airline’s branding.
“These are going to be like the new amenity kits for quite a long time I expect,” says Heitz.
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While airport terminals remain mostly desolate, initiatives are underway to verify passenger health preflight and assure that airports are scrupulously clean.
Various technologies are in trial phases now.That includes a contactless voice-activated kiosk for monitoring passengers’ temperature, heart and respiratory rates before check-in. It’s being developed in partnership between Etihad Airways and Australian company Elenium Automation, and it’s undergoing tests at Abu Dhabi Airport.
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https://twitter.com/1Obefiend/status/1260534240493449217?s=19
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https://twitter.com/gst183/status/1260706879199576064?s=19
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