This year has been tough for airlines — the toughest on record, many say. Without new aid from Congress, the expiration of the CARES Act furlough restriction put an end to a summer of relative security, and several airlines began telling workers to go home until they can afford to bring them back.
The Regional Airline Association told the Washington Examiner that roughly 10,000 employees among its member airlines have been furloughed. American Airlines has furloughed 19,000 of its workers, and United Airlines has furloughed 13,000. At Alaska Airlines, the number is 532.
With revenues still way down, the industry has a tough way ahead. Nevertheless, it has at least three new reasons to be hopeful.
A new study sponsored by the Department of Defense finds a very low risk of exposure to coronavirus on airplanes. Using both a Boeing 767 and 777 as their test space, researchers put air filtration systems to the test as masked dummies dispelled aerosolized particles, simulating those that spread the coronavirus.
Their findings: “The maximum exposure in a nearby seat of 0.3% of a characterized release [of particles], equates to a 99.7% reduction from an aerosolized source of contamination such as SARS-CoV-2. Converting to a reduction factor … this corresponds to a reduction of 333+.” The risk is microscopic for those sitting even further away from the spreader. “Across the further ~40 seats nearby the simulated infected patient there is average reduction of 99.99% of aerosols, or a reduction factor of 10,000+,” the study says.
All that is thanks to the use of high efficiency particulate air filters, or HEPA. “The 767 and 777 both removed particulate 15 times faster than a home … and 5 to 6 times faster than recommended design specifications for modern hospital operating or patient isolation rooms,” the study says.
The study has limits. It used static dummies, not sentient humans who move around and may or may not wear masks at all times. “Testing assumes that mask wearing is continuous, and that the number of infected personnel is low,” the authors write. Still, the results can inspire more confidence in the safety of flying, especially long-haul flying. Knowing this, United — whose airplanes were used in the experiments — quickly pushed the study in a marketing effort.
In other news, the Boeing 737 MAX’s reinstatement has grown closer as Patrick Ky, executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, gave an approving review of Boeing’s systems changes. “Our analysis is showing that this is safe, and the level of safety reached is high enough for us,” Ky told Bloomberg.
Those at FAA “still have some work to do yet” before signing off on the airplane, Administrator Stephen Dickson said recently after flying the jet himself. United Airlines and American Airlines, who have struggled more than other airlines during the pandemic, both have the MAX in their fleets. Southwest Airlines has them, too. The MAX’s fuel efficiency is among its biggest assets, and at a time when money is so tight, the airlines could really use the jet. So could Boeing, as I have written before.
The third source of hope: The Transportation Security Administration screened 1,031,505 passengers on Sunday. The last time TSA-screened passengers reached above one million was on March 16, three days after President Trump announced that he was restricting travel from Europe. The fewest passengers screened on a single day between then and now was 87,534.
Since that April 14 low point, passenger numbers have increased but remained still comparatively low. The Sunday number is just about 40% of what it was a year ago. Even so, airlines need more people to fly, and more people are flying.
All three developments are a shot in the industry’s arm. None is the saving grace that exploding travel demand would be, or more government aid, for that matter, but all three together put aviation in a better position to recover.
