The new normal in air travel may require people to adapt, but looking into the future, it is important to take a look back. How was air travel before the virus? WOLE SHADARE asks
New era
Higher fares, fewer routes, pre-flight health checks and less free food. The coronavirus crisis is ushering in a new era of air travel, not only in Nigeria, but the world over.
In all likelihood, domestic air travel will be the first to resume once the country feels that its internal situation is sufficiently stable.
For international air travel to get back on its feet, there must be confidence that the scourge is under control on a global level and that it is safe to travel.
Until such a time when there is availability of an effective solution, it is expected that any recovery would occur at measured pace.
A seismic shift is underway as the country’s airlines reassess their operations and how they will look, emerging from the crisis.
At eerily empty airports, mask-wearing and social distancing already show a behavioral change among the few staff and travelers left. A long shakeup lies ahead that is set to touch almost every aspect of flying after limits on movement unwind.
Resetting the clock
In a matter of months, the outbreak of coronavirus will reset the clock on a decades-long aviation marginal improvement. But all of that have been thrown away, no thanks to coronavirus.
There’s no known time when people will be willing to pack into enclosed cabin spaces again, though an International Air Transport Association (IATA) survey found 40 per cent of recent travellers anticipated waiting at least six months after the virus is contained before flying again.
A concern is that customers will be put off by health-related entry rules that may differ from country to country, especially during an uneven opening-up process.
Just as airport security tightened after the September 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S., travelers could be subjected to tests like temperature checks, or they may even need health certificates to fly, according to consulting firm, BCG. That could be time-consuming and complicate flying schedules.
At a virtual seminar themed: “The Challenges and Opportunities For Nigeria’s Aviation Value Chain During And Post-COVID-19,” put together by Aviation Round Table (ART) and monitored by New Telegraph, it was emphasised that Nigeria would fly again, but things would not be the same.
According to them, the pandemic would birth “a new normal” in the aviation industry.
Shortly before the total lockdown, some airlines had implemented the social distancing policy and that took a lot of time. They witnessed a lot of delays because they had to ensure passengers keep safe distances at the point of check-in in order to curb the spread of the virus.
But physical distancing policy in the aircraft may not be possible. That may not happen as the Managing Director of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema, said it was not the solution to the problem to curtail the spread of the deadly virus.
Onyema equally stated that the idea of setting aside middle seats on aircraft would further destroy airline economies and one that could lead to rise in air fares.
Tasking airports procedures
Managing Director of Aero Contractors, Capt. Ado Sanusi, recently said passengers would have to be fit to travel, as the Yellow cards would be substituted for COVID-19 card.
He said: “Passengers must arrive earlier than they used to at the airport and definitely expect more delay. The old normal turn around for local will increase from 30 minutes to over one hour (new normal) because aircraft will be sanitised every time the plane lands.”
According to him, there will also be panic at the airport or in an aircraft if certain things happen. For instance, if anyone sneezes, others would panic.
“We will have to work hard to psychologically educate passengers that the aircraft is the safest place to be,” he added.
Rethinking strategies
During this global disruption, airports will be required to rethink their normal business and operational processes in a few areas.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) is also putting its house in order and said it has put in place arrangements that would ensure passenger facilitation as the nation’s aviation industry prepares for resumption of domestic flight operations.
Speaking at an aviation webinar organised by Women in Aviation (WIA), Nigeria, with the theme: ‘Aviation: The New Norm in the post-COVID-19,’ last week, Gen¬eral Manager, Corporate Commu-nications, FAAN, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu, said passengers should expect delays and long hours of checks and re-checks right from when they arrive the airport and departs.
She said that security escorts would no longer be allowed to follow their principals into the terminal as the practice, noting that Very Important Persons (VIPs) would be subjected to all health checks.
To this end, she said passengers were expected to leave their home ear¬ly in order to go through the various checks before entering the terminal and after.
According to her, “we are going to expect flight de¬lays; flights will experience delays from checks and re-checks. If you are travelling, I will expect a poten¬tial traveler to leave home hours before his flight.”
Technological solutions
While FAAN’s approach is highly commendable, the agency was silent on the use of technology to hasten passengers’ facilitation to cut time wasted by passengers remaining on the queue for long.
To reduce the spread of pathogens beyond COVID-19, FAAN should consider autonomous, hands-free passenger self-processing solutions throughout the passenger journey.
Already, many Common User Self Service (CUSS) solutions in the market leverage touchless biometrics such as IRIS scanning and facial recognition. These are lacking in many of the country’s airports. COVID-19 could well be the catalyst spurring wider adoption of touchless technologies.
Every crisis that has challenged the aviation industry from 9/11 to SARS has left an indelible mark on airport and airline operations. The next 12 months will require airports to deal with a new set of challenges of a magnitude never encountered before.
In-flight meal scrapped
The pandemic will greatly affect in-flight meals. Before now, usually on long distance trips, one is confronted with stewards or stewardess coming around to put a cloth napkin on tray table. This is followed shortly by a hot meal with a choice of two entrees.
Things are different now as passengers may just be handed packed meals or put on their seats or in a corner to be picked by passengers in a bid to eliminate or minimise contacts inside airplane fuselage.
Already, Onyema disclosed that his airline would stop in-flight service on domestic routes and downsize its operations when flights resume in the country. Other carriers may have adopted the same position as they plan to unfold their ‘new normal’ for air travelers to save the industry from the spread of the deadly coronavirus. He further disclosed that it also planned to downsize workforce.
Last line
COVID-19 has devastated families and lives. It has turned economies upside down. There is nothing good about it other than perhaps learning from it. Aviation has been reshaped, which is expected to define air travel, same way 9/11 brought innovations to travel business.
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