COVID-19: Industry solidarity in prioritizing passenger health and safety

The COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on the industry and broader economy has halted aviation at a global level but, as the industry begins to restart and plan for a long-term, sustained recovery, the health and safety of passengers and staff remains the overriding priority.

Passengers must have confidence in air travel and, while there is in all likelihood no single measure that could mitigate all the risks of restarting air travel, the harmonization of any new processes and procedures represents the most effective way of balancing risk mitigation with the need to unlock economies and to enable travel.

Aviation is an interconnected and interdependent global ecosystem so harmonization will come down to continued global collaboration, cooperation, and consistency.

In pursuit of this goal, ACI has joined with its global partners in the industry to support a new initiative spearheaded by the three global airline alliances to highlight the measures aviation is adopting to assure the well-being of customers while travelling.

The ‘Dear Travellers’ video illustrates for customers what they can expect on their journeys over the coming months as travel restrictions are slowly eased and the world starts to reopen.

The video highlights the measures that travellers will experience during their journey from check-in to their chosen destination, including:

• requirement or recommendations for passengers and airline staff to wear face masks both at the airport and onboard
• a safe airport environment with physical distancing in all areas where possible
• increased and intensified sanitation with a focus on high-touch areas, both on the ground and in the aircraft cabin
• hospital-grade high-efficiency air filters on board modern aircraft. Known as HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) which extract 99.99% of particles and airborne contaminants.

Covering these topics in an engaging way will help passengers #FlyWithConfidence, assured that airlines and airports around the world are implementing enhanced hygiene and personal safety standards to mitigate risks to health.

Airports are focused on the health and welfare of travellers, staff, and the public, and to minimize the opportunities for dissemination of disease so ACI is happy to support this initiative. It is an example of the kind of industry cooperation that is needed to reassure travellers that air travel is safe.

This will be the key to rebuilding global air services capacity and keeping passengers safe, healthy, and secure as we do this.

We are #StrongerTogether