Flying during Corona Times

Air Travel amidst Covid-19 pandemic has become quite a hassle for everyone. As the situation currently stands, other than emergency, travelling should be stuck off the calendar till the world officially comes out of this Pandemic.

My friend Subho who works in Mumbai had come to meet his family in Kolkata just a couple of days before the nationwide lockdown got implemented in late March this year and had been stuck here ever since.

With the lock down getting lifted partially from June, he finally made his journey back to Mumbai a few days back.

A day before the journey he received a message from the airlines informing him that he needs to be at the airport 3 hours before departure. As he reached the airport he could realise that things were quite different now.

No rushing at the gate was allowed. Everyone had to maintain safe distance. This I think is good and I hope it remains perpetually in India. It’s pretty awkward when people don’t keep a distance while standing in a queue. Hopefully things have changed for the better now.

Before coming near the entrance gate a person was checking the temperature and only if you are not running a temperature then only you are allowed to move towards the gate. As you approach the gate, one needs to keep the ticket and the ID card on an elevated device and the security person will check the same in his monitor. This seems to be a new addition to the system so that there is no contact with the passenger & security personnel to maintain social distancing. Another good addition to the system I think. Also the bags get sanitised at the gate as per the standard protocols.

One important feature that has become standard now across all airports is that the traveller needs to web check in. No check-in is allowed at the airport. No baggage X-Rays as well. The airline counters now sport a fiber wall to maintain safety. Once the luggage is left at the counter, no counterfoil is provided to the passenger instead a SMS comes to the registered mobile number mentioning the Checked-in baggage receipt number. Another new addition using technology which I think is a very good move. At Least Covid-19 is making us go paperless as much as possible.

After this comes the security check. No physical check is being done now. It’s being done electronically. This is also a welcome addition because this takes the human error out of the equation.

The airport inside is no longer the same. One issue is that passengers are less so such big airports look very deserted. Most of the shops are not functioning yet. Subho was quick to notice that the Smoking Zone was closed. Quite wittily that was the first thing he informed me after entering the airport.

The sitting areas are demarcated with every alternate seat crossed out and no one is being allowed to sit there to maintain social distancing.

The flight that Subho took had only 8 passengers on board. I am at pain to understand how long these airline companies will run with so low demand. Anyways, what he saw with other relatively populated flights was that no passenger was allowed to stand in the bus. Once the seats were full the buses were leaving and the next set of passengers were being taken by another bus. This is great I thought but will this continue after the world gets rid of Covid-19? I doubt that but it’s a welcome change because 75-80 passengers on those busses used to make the place quite suffocating.

Anyways, the airline company handed out masks, face shields and a small bottle of sanitizer for all passengers. Inside the flight all crew members were wearing PPEs (must be a real pain wearing these in a flight and in long distance flights it must be even bad). Subho also noticed that no food was being served inside the flight. He always avoids food inside the flights and he wasn’t sure if this no food policy was because of too few passengers or was it because of Covid-19.

At the Mumbai airport he was a little taken aback when he saw that no social distancing was followed in the conveyor belt area. There were no security around as well and people were back hostling and crowding without maintaining safe distance.

Subho quite smartly took his own time and waited for the crowd to disperse before going and taking his luggage. As he booked the cab and started moving towards the exit gate, his temperature was checked and a home quarantine mark was stamped on his hand. Quite funnily though the stamp ink was of very low quality and in 2 minutes he was able to remove the ink from his hand.

So that’s how a flight journey would be in the near future till Coronavirus stays with us. Quite clearly travelling in flights would be very tedious going forward and not at all comfortable. I do not foresee people taking flights now other than emergencies. This industry is in for a lot more pain in the short and medium term.

Visualising the whole process from outside, I think the Airport and Airline authorities are doing a stellar job in providing the services amidst such a turmoil. I just hope the general public follows the rule because it’s a question of human health and hence it’s important as dutiful citizens that we follow all the rules.

Till we meet again – Stay Safe & Good Health!

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