[TupeloKid]

[postquote quote=995636][/postquote]

That’s a bit of a “two wrongs make a right” argument.

Also, the pictures from Johnson’s hospital visit show him, the staff and patients not wearing masks.

[canucklad]

Sticking with masks and the topic subject “air travel” it’ll be interesting to see the how the airline industry adapts to a big tube of people travelling in a confined space with god knows what germs circulating through the air conditioning system.

Personally, wearing a mask , even for a short flight would be an irritant beyond belief. On a long haul to HK or YVR it would be a torturous experience to far.

When this is all done,
Is it not incumbent on us all as loyal fare paying customers that we demand that our aircraft, are at the very least fitted with the highest quality air filters , and at best the whole recycling of air is looked at to reduce as much as possible the risk of infection on board our chosen method of travel ?

[capetonianm]

Aircraft are fitted with the highest quality air filters (HEPA) which are similar to those used in hospitals.

The aircraft air is not the risk area. It’s the surfaces that we touch, but worse than that by far is the transit to, through and from the airport, putting one’s things into filthy plastic bins in security, touching screens, sitting on filthy seats, and so on. Then there is the cougher/sneezer/belcher sitting next to one. That air and its content hits you before it even goes through the filtering system.

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[canucklad]

I fully understand the workings of the 50% split and the air being recycled between 30 & 50 times per hour. However regardless of how good it is, there are ways it can be better.
99% isn’t 100% and when crew start to meddle with the setting to adjust zonal environments surely this impacts on the movement of droplets within the cabin?
Maybe rferguson or another crew member on the forum can contribute ?

Capetonianm , I do 100% agree with you that the surrounding infrastructure is far more dangerous to our health , especially our fellow passengers bizarre behaviours. Maybe we need to adopt a travelling etiquette that transcends some cultural acceptability’s ?

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TupeloKid

[DavidSmith2]

When smoking on board flights was initially banned – much to my personal inconvenience, but undoubtedly the right thing to do – I was told that airlines would significantly reduce the level of air circulation (and make substantial cost savings) as a result. I have no idea if that was true, or just the grumble of another disgruntled smoker. Maybe others can confirm or deny the claim?

[AMcWhirter]

The impact on international arrivals at Tokyo NRT.

Tokyo Narita arrivals sleeping in cardboard boxes

[MarcusGB]

KLM’s CEO has sent numerous updates, this one went out in March. I thought this an excellent open and honest communication, and whilst many Airlines are whining about the situation, and making refunds and changes awkward, this a touching and very empathetic note from KLM’s CEO, who is well respected inside and outside of KLM.
They are also undertaking much work on aircraft in the grounding period, and seating for eg will be kept with a gap inbetween, and smaller more spacious long haul aircraft for Long haul, such as A350’s and Dreamliners will be used. 1-2-1 seating will be the new norm for long haul cabins, less the 2-2-2 on their 777;s.
At least KLM are considering the plans to re-start, and how travel must change.

https://news.klm.com/letter-from-pieter-elbers-to-our-customers/

FFP Members received an update yesterday with very detailed a breakdown on how AF/KLM will add on the points required for all levels of membership, to keep current status for one year.
It is slightly different to this update but apologies all i could find on line.

https://www.flyingblue.co.uk/en/news/coronavirus-updates

[AMcWhirter]

Report in The Scotsman shows how traffic volumes have declined at two busy regional airports.

Edinburgh’s traffic figures will look even worse (when compared to summer 2019) later this year because the Festival has been cancelled.

https://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/edinburgh-airport-handling-just-3-usual-flights-2544868

[canucklad]

Here’s a comment to raise capetonianm’s spirit

A Quote from IATA’s chief , Alexandre de Juniac
“And so it means that if social distancing is imposed, cheap travel is over. Voila”

A rather strange comment from him, and is it truly realistic ?Unless of course we roll back time to the year 1975, change legislation across the globe to reverse de-regulation and simultaneously promote state protectionism .

Then again, maybe that’s the price (no apologies for the pun)we’ll have to pay for the inevitable intervention of our governments as they rescue our favourite airlines

Too late to save Pan Am, TWA, CP or BCal but hey ho , where would we be without BA in the future !

[K1ngston]

[postquote quote=996487][/postquote]

This forum would be very quite thats for sure 🙂

[TupeloKid]

[postquote quote=995749][/postquote]

I would have had the same view at the beginning of the year and was a non-mask-wearer during the SARS period in Hong Kong (though I did switch to driving to work at that time, and so was not using public transport; nor did I fly anywhere).

But I have got used to mask-wearing, including on some regional flights at end-January and would now have no problem even on a long-haul flight. (I generally have little desire to uncover my face for the inflight catering, which makes it easier!)

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canucklad

[capetonianm]

It may be that ‘green shoots’ are starting to appear :

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/airlines-resume-flights-europe/

A few selected paragraphs :

Airlines offer hope for post-lockdown travel with resumption of dozens of services

European airlines have added more than 700,000 seats to their weekly schedules as the aviation industry takes the first small steps towards recovery after the two hardest months in its history.

According to its data, airlines in Western Europe will offer 1.61m seats this week, up 42.4% on last week, while Eastern European carriers have increased capacity by 29.3% to 1.01m. It offers some hope that, once lockdown restrictions are lifted, Britons willing to travel will have a reasonable number of route options at their disposal.

Demand is likely to remain suppressed for some time after that, and Telegraph Travel’s Nick Trend believes passengers should expect prices to rise. “Margins in the airline industry are incredibly tight,” he said. “……..A significant drop in the number of passengers on each flight would make a big difference to the equation. Fares will go up.” The International Air Transport Association estimates a 50% overall increase in fares.

“Whisper it quietly but we may have reached the bottom,” said John Grant, senior analyst at OAG. “Scheduled airline capacity has increased for the first time in nearly ten weeks and perhaps reassuringly those green shoots of recovery are in more than one market. With some countries beginning to ease lockdown restrictions, a few airlines are cautiously peering out from the carnage and testing market demand with some capacity being added back, in some cases actually, quite a lot of capacity.”

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[DavidGordon10]

Green shoots are good – but I worry that travel may still be made so difficult that some work is impractical.

I normally rely on being able to move easily between London and Geneva. If authorities remain paranoid about cross-border travel, I will not be able to work in my normal way, if they want to quarantine me at one end and hold me up for hours at the other end for some kind of screening to be done. Travel is not just the flight, it is getting from one office onto the flight and getting to the other office after disembarking.

More widely, we have to send teams from around the world to inspect somewhere for a week, and then go home. One recent team had four members from Alberta, Buenos Aires, Chicago and Khartoum off to Beijing for a week, and then return. How practical will that be?

[Author]

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