Passengers may have to prepare themselves to sit shoulder-to-shoulder aboard planes once the government allows flights to resume. However, airports will have to draw symbols on floors, check-in counters and chairs on their premises to ensure social distancing, and passengers will have to report earlier to avoid crowding, according to a draft protocol prepared by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
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Air travellers have to mandatorily download the Aarogya Setu app, and carry only one baggage which will have to be checked-in. In the beginning, passengers can only check-in online, and will have to report two hours before departure. Those above the age of 80 years will be barred from taking a flight. These are some of the measures included in the draft protocol, which was shared with airlines on May 9.
Outlets for food and beverages at airports may be allowed to remain open, but will be have to ensure there is no crowding.
Three rows vacant
The protocol also lays down that airlines must ensure crew pairing, that is, the same set of pilots and cabin crew work in a team, to avoid cross contamination. While there is no provision for leaving the middle seat empty, airlines will have to leave the last three rows vacant for isolation of those passengers who develop a medical condition. If this is implemented, the government would be going back on its earlier advisory to airlines, which required them to leave the middle seat empty.
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Social media is replete with posts from passengers sharing videos and photos of packed aircraft, and engaging in a heated argument with flight crew on why no social distancing norms were being followed on-board. One such viral post last week was from a passenger who travelled aboard a United Airlines flight from Newark to San Francisco and posted a photo of a packed Boeing 737. “This is the last time I’ll be flying again for a very long time,” he wrote.
Airlines have argued that leaving the middle seat empty will render operations unviable and further dent their finances, which have taken a hit after flights were banned on March 25.
