28 August 2020: Coronavirus pandemic has drastically changed our ways of living our habits and also our travel. Previously where air travel for business or pleasure was as easy as breathing, today passengers think twice before boarding an aircraft. Airlines and the entire aerospace industry is now slowly trying to gear up and gain back the passenger confidence in air travel. Airlines are coming with newer and more innovative ways to make sure the journey is completely virus-proof and safe. Etihad stated a campaign called ‘Etihad Wellness Campaign’ which included distribution of masks and sanitizers to all on-board passengers along with discouraging social distancing on flights.
Many airlines opted for an empty middle seat to ensure passenger safety. Many airlines like Turkish have come up with a complete set of norms for passengers’ right from airport entry to exit points.
Name any major airline, be it the Emirates, Air Canada, American Airlines, Southwesten, Delta Air, Air France –KLM to name a few have put in place the standard rules and regulations of air travel as put forward by the ICAO and IATA.
These include measures like compulsory wearing of face masks on board the flight by all the passengers as well as crew members. Using alcohol based hand-sanitizers and avoid touching aircraft surface whenever possible is the most basic of all safety norms.
The airlines also adhered to stringent disinfection measure by cleaning and sanitizing all aircraft surfaces with alcohol-based disinfectants. Some airlines like the Emirates were the first airline to carry out on-site rapid COVID-19 tests for passengers in coordination with Dubai Health Authority. Frontier Airlines enhanced their fogging techniques while some like Gulfstream doubled up their clean air technology.
Many airlines are also making use of UV rays to detect and sanitise surfaces to provide the extra layer of safety to customers. The use of HEPA filters for fresh and clean air re-circulation is also a part of aircraft safe travel policy.
Almost all the airlines have developed their own mobile apps to encourage touchless travel to passengers. Right from ticket booking, to baggage at the airport, boarding pass and baggage collection, everything is managed by a single app and is completely paperless.
The next airline joining the group is Alaska Air. With hygiene and safety concerns top of mind, Alaska Airlines is making it easier for guests to travel touch-free. Through improved technology and innovation, Alaska is creating more convenience and less contact among guests and employees during travel.
Over the coming weeks, new touch-free options for Alaska guests and employees will include the ability
- To pre-order meals and purchase food and beverages on board using a stored credit card (pending return of food and beverage for purchase in main cabin).
- To print bag tags without having to touch check-in kiosks.
- For agents to scan boarding passes up to six feet away while boarding.
- To receive a text message instead of a printed boarding pass if guests don’t already have the Alaska Airlines mobile app.
- To get an emailed receipt for baggage instead of printed receipt.
“These advancements help make the travel experience easy and almost entirely touch-free for our guests and are just part of the many ways we’re keeping our guests and employees safe during this time,” said Charu Jain, senior vice president of merchandising and innovation.
The Alaska Airlines mobile app is still the single best tool to limit contact while traveling. The Android and iPhone app allows guests to check in for their flight, generate a mobile boarding pass, change seats and prepay for bags. Guests can also stay up to date on their flight status, gate changes and boarding notifications.
We are approaching an era wherein our face will be our sole identity. Facial recognition will be our password for logins as well as our flight tickets. With artificial intelligence and innovative software like the one developed by SITA, passengers will simply glide through the airport with their head held high. We can happily say – the era of ‘touch-less’ travel is already here.
