Post Coronavirus Lockdown Air Travel: No Food, No Middle Seat And Expensive Tickets

Social distancing, this is the term which we have got used to in this coronavirus pandemic time. The deadly outbreak has taken thousands of lives which has led to lockdowns in many countries, including India.

AFP

As announced by PM Modi the lockdown will be in place till May 3 and thus, there¡¯s a ban on travel as well. The travel ban has already caused the aviation industry a lot of financial burden.

While airlines will accordingly resume services once the lockdown is lifted, the airline industry is now preparing for progressive changes to incorporate new social distancing norms in travelling, till the time an absolute solution to COVID-19 is found.

A few days ago, we saw a few images from a Spicejet ground bus where some seats marked using reflective tape so that people maintain some distance even while they are travelling from terminal to aircraft.

Now we have got to know that airlines in India are going to stop booking middle seats to maintain a safe distance between travellers. However, fewer occupants in a flight means more cost of travelling as the operational cost for a plane right from its fuel to the parkings fees, salaries of staff will remain the same.

This financial strain will directly be transferred to the end which leads to consumers who will be giving away more money to travel in the coming days.

There is more to this, airports are also preparing themselves for social distancing. The Check-in counters will now open 3 hours prior to flight which is currently 2 hours for domestic flights, and will close 1 hour prior that currently takes at least 40-50 minutes which allows them more time for sanitizing and processing the customers baggage.

GoAir and Vistara announced measures to protect the staff, crew and passengers in preparation for a phase-wise commencement of flights from 4th May 2020. Reduction of in-flight service to minimise non-essential interaction.

Reduction of in-flight service to minimise non-essential interaction between passengers and crew will be adhered to. Also, only water will be provided and there will be no meals or snack service.

There are guidelines for the crew that they will be wearing face masks and gloves at all times when interacting with passengers. Non-essential movement in the aisle will be discouraged too.

The CEO of Go Air said on measures being taken, ¡°GoAir is in full preparation mode for a gradual commencement of flights from 4th May 2020. Nothing is more important to us at GoAir than the safety and well-being of our staff, crew and passengers. We are going above and beyond the Government recommendations in an effort to ensure maximum health and safety measures are undertaken as we gradually emerge from this unimaginable and unprecedented global crisis¡±.

Vistara spokesperson said, ¡°While the situation remains fluid, we plan to resume services in a phased manner starting 4 May 2020. We will make every effort to protect the health safety of our customers and staff, following all regulatory guidelines as well as by adopting certain important, stringent preventive measures proactively. We will ensure social distancing across all touchpoints and continue with our stepped up cleaning measures. Any passenger showing symptoms of fever and/or respiratory illness will undergo a precautionary check-up with the Airport Medical Support Team. We will also make temporary adjustments in some of the aspects of our onboard service purely to minimise interaction between cabin crew and customers.¡±

In simple words, air travel will not be the same after the coronavirus period, this will be till the time we don¡¯t get a proper vaccination for this covid-19 infection.