Leaving the middle seat empty on a plane is 'not technically relevant,' Airbus says

As travel restrictions begin to ease following lockdowns the world over, many are speculating that in the new normal, airlines will offer less seats by leaving the middle one empty to allow for physical distancing.

Philippine Airlines (PAL), in fact, has announced Distancing Seats, wherein "middle or an aisle seat left empty beside you," PAL said in its announcement of new safety measures.

But the newly appointed president of Airbus Asia-Pacific Anand Stanley says that's "not technically relevant."

In a virtual briefing with local press, Stanley emphasised the aircraft's technology, which has historically been proven safe during earlier pandemics like SARS and MERSCoV.

"An aircraft cabin provides a very, very low risk environment for the transmission of virus," Stanley began.

He explains the aircraft already has advanced air ventilation and filtration systems, which manage the airflow patterns in the aircraft.

Illustration courtesy of Airbus

According to Stanley, the air inside the plane is fresh, as it is drawn from outside the cabin. "It enters and it is  forced down in strong downward flow, at the speed of one meter per second."

From there, the air is sucked out from the floor.

"This trajectory of air flow prevents any movements of the air transversely," Stanley said.

Air inside the cabin is renewed every two to three minutes, a feat enabled Stanley compares it to the air quality in an operating theater inside a hospital. "None in the transport industry and any other form of transport see such a continuous replacement of air," he said.

Stanley added, "From a cross-contamination standpoint, the fact that the air flow moves so fast from top to bottom at one meter per second, the transversal movement of air is avoided."

Aircrafts are also equipped with a HEPA filter (High Efficiency Particulate Air filter), which removes 99% of the particles from the cabin air, which "includes bacteria and viruses."

Illustration courtesy of Airbus

These technologies, he continues have been in place during earlier outbreaks of respiratory diseases like SARS and MERS-CoV. According to Airbus, "the integrity of cabin air safety has been quite good historically during the timelines of these epidemics. The HEPA filters are tried and tested and proven filter that has historically captured and filtered out different strains of coronaviruses, which are all about the same size."

"From a purely technical standpoint, leaving the middle seat empty is not technically relevant," he said.

But he acquiesced and emphasised that this "very, very safe existing historic system" is just one factor in their efforts to win the trust and confidence of the public back. "It really is an industry effort from end to end," Stanley said.

Apart from Distancing Seats, PAL will also be requiring passengers to wear face masks and to bring their own sanitizers, and submit to temperature checks. It has also commissioned new PPE uniforms for its cabin crew.   

New PPE uniform of PAL cabin crew

"It's not limited to any one particular pair. We look at it across the board, whether we are talking about agencies such as the IATA, ICAO, the airports council, the regulators...the airlines, the airports, and of course, folk like us, the aircraft manufacturers.

"We are all working together, partnering together as industry. There's tremendous amount of solidarity there with the end goal of looking at an end-to-end approach towards the air transport experience."

"The measures," he continues, "are to instill trust. Obviously passengers and airlines will do the best that they can to bring comforting trust where they always can."

"We will see a recovery in the airline industry when we see a recovery in confidence, in the traveler and the passenger traffic."

Social distancing — maintaining 6 feet away from others — is among the recommended measures of World Health Organization in containing COVID-19. — LA, GMA News