5 things an Airline Business Can do to Mitigate the Effect of COVID-19

COVID-19 is altering our daily lives, be it countries, companies, citizens, we are all struggling. Talking about the airline industry, according to a report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), it is estimated that the airline industry stands to lose close to $110 Billion as a result of this pandemic.


The virus has, in many ways, had a drastic impact on airlines. "SARS, Ebola, and MERS are some of the events that have affected the demand negatively in the past. So what are airlines doing to alleviate their losses, and to keep their passengers safe?

Let's see how air travel companies are handling the novel coronavirus:

Clean planes

It is time for airlines to step up their sanitary measures to prepare themselves for the post-COVID-19 world. Some measures that airlines can take are using fog machines to deploy disinfectant on planes flying specific routes or putting catering equipment through additional disinfection and sanitization processes. The air travel companies should now think of enhancing their cleaning procedures, thus emphasizing disinfecting surfaces that are often touched. The airliners should strictly follow the cleaning and sanitization procedures recommended by IATA.

Prepare disinfectant kits

Various airline brands are preparing disinfectant kits which include gloves, disinfectant wipes, a mini-mop with handle, a trash bag, sanitizing wipes, and a device for trash pickup. Some of the airline brands are stocking hand sanitizer and wipes for crew members. And this should be followed by all the airlines if they want their passengers to be safe.

Although various airlines are still practicing these measures and some are preparing for it, the experts have advised that travelers should always wash their hands often with soap and water, or carry a travel-size hand sanitizer to use during the flight.

Highlight the existing safety practices

It is time for airlines to highlight their safety practices in order to make sure that passengers feel safe while they are travelling. Several airlines are mentioning one key feature about their COVID-19-related procedures: High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters, which are found in most large and modern aircraft. Even though the air in a plane's cabin is partially recycled, it is actually among the cleanest around.

Most modern planes operate on a 50-50 system, with half-reused and half-sourced from outside. The air outside is naturally sterile, due to the atmospheric conditions found at high altitudes and the recycled air is run through industrial-grade HEPA filters, which usually filter out at least 99.97% of particles, per the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Moreover, various reports have stated that the air from the vent, even with the partial recycling, can be as pure as those in-hospital operation theatres.

Limit contact with the crew

There are two main concerns passengers should keep in mind while travelling by air; one is hard surfaces where the virus may live, and the other is people within six feet who might cough on other passengers. This is concerning for crew members as they come into contact with the most people on a flight.

In order to protect their workers from contracting COVID-19 and then spreading it to passengers, airlines should cut back on in-flight services, thus reducing the number of times a given crew member will interface with customers. These services can include hot towel service, or mid-cabin bar service on some international flights or airlines can provide gloves and hand sanitizer to employees, especially those who deal directly with passengers.

Maintaining rate parity

Due to COVID-19, various experts have predicted that airlines rate parity will continue to be a significant issue. This disparity can threaten the pricing power and decrease direct bookings, which can affect the traveler relationship that comes with those direct bookings. In order to manage rate parity, airlines can partner with travel technology company such as RateGain that helps check revenue leakage instantly and validate them by using closed-loop rate parity, thus helping in airline revenue management

It is time for airlines to observe the industry, market, and competitors and prepare strategies in order to attract more customers in post-COVID-19.

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