Even as there is news that the government may allow limited domestic flights once the lockdown ends, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is reportedly framing some draft guidelines for the airlines to follow, reports Business Standard. The underlying concept will continue to be social distancing.
The standard operating procedure if airlines are allowed to operate post the lockdown, will include the centre seat being left vacant and three rows of seats kept free to isolate any passenger if she or he shows any symptoms of the disease.
Apart from these, the social distancing will apply to the check-in counters, boarding, deboarding and so on. The cabin crew will also be asked to maintain the distance and there won’t be the regular serving of food in the flights. Either the passengers will be asked to carry their own food, or an alternate arrangement may be made to keep a food packet on the seat before boarding.
The airport managements will have to organize thermal checking of passengers to ensure no affected passenger gets on board. The airports may have to ensure that there is no crowding anywhere. If the restaurants or duty-free shops etc. can be a threat, then they will all remain shut.
While these guidelines look nice from the outside, it could be a nightmare for the airlines. With the exclusion of the middle seats and three rows, they can sell less than 60% of the seats on each flight. With over 90% occupancy, many airlines are running in losses. Now, at this level of occupancy they will have to increase the fight ticket prices. However, there is a limit to stretch it as well.
There are already talks of a number of airlines going bankrupt before this pandemic wears itself out. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Tuesday predicted that nearly 25 million jobs globally are at risk with airline shutdown due to COVID-19.
Out of the 25 million jobs at risk, 11.2 million are in Asia-Pacific, 5.6 million in Europe, 2.9 million in Latin America, 2 million in North America, 2 million in Africa and 0.9 million in the Middle East.