Before taking flight, a 3-hr deep clean

NEW DELHI: Every commercial aircraft that flies into Delhi from an overseas or domestic airport, or even if it is just in transit, is being rigorously cleaned for 3-4 hours by a team supervised by the airline’s engineering services staff before it is reused. That’s one of the precautions put in place by airlines to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

From the lavatories to windows and from baggage cabins to the cockpit, every fixture in the aircraft, including the seats, foldable tables and hand rests, are being cleaned with disinfecting chemicals so that passengers can rest assured on the flight that their chances of being infected by the virus are minimal.

Covered in personal protective equipment from head to toe, these cleaners enter an aircraft when all the passengers have disembarked and all the luggage has been taken out.

The process starts with spraying disinfectants on every surface inside the aircraft, said YS Rao, general manager, engineering, Air India. “The wet surface is then left to be disinfected for 25-30 minutes and only after that the cleaning crew enters again, this time to deepclean every corner of the plane,” he said.

Rao said using strong disinfectants, every surface is thoroughly wiped, be it the doors, windows, seats, foldable tables, baggage cabins, or the seat hand rests. “Even the cockpit is cleaned ,but under the strict supervision of our engineering staff so that safety of the passengers and aircraft is not compromised at any level,” Rao said.

Rao also added that while travelling, especially during long flights, a flyer may unintentionally touch a window or the arm-rest or may want to use the lavatory often.

“We want to assure our passengers that their flight would be clean and safe for travel. There are also sanitizers kept inside the lavatories, which can be used by the passengers. Our airline crew onboard takes care of hygiene when airborne. A cleaned surface gets infected only when an infected person touches it,” Rao said.

Rao said the entire cleaning exercise lasts for about a couple of hours, depending on the size of the aircraft. “An Airbus can be deep-cleaned in less than two hours, but a Boeing 777 may take up to four hours. It depends on the capacity and how big an aircraft is,” the GM added.

The number of staff used also varies from aircraft to aircraft. “While an Airbus A320 can easily be managed by 8-10 cleaners, for Boeing 777, which is the biggest aircraft being used in Vande Bharat Missions, we might need at least 15 cleaners at a time,” he said.

Vande Bharat is the government initiative to bring back Indians stranded overseas

In India, the national carrier Air India is the only airline operating international flights during the pandemic.

Another official from Air India said that the airline has outsourced the deep-cleaning task to AI-SATS, a joint venture between Air India and Singapore Airport Terminal Services.

“We pay SATS the service charges. Roughly, for deepcleaning of an Airbus A320, we pay around Rs 6,000 as service charges. For an ATR aircraft, it is Rs 4,500 to 5,000 and for a Boeing 777, service charges may go up to as high as Rs 14,000. Logistics are all of SATS but at times we also provide with chemicals used in cleaning,” the official said, wishing not to be named.

A spokesperson from AISATS said its staff follows industry standards for all aircraft cleaning processes, customising the process based on an airline’s guidelines.

“Stringent set of measures are in place to ensure we are delivering the best aircraft cleaning service. Our team ensures cleaning at key touchpoints throughout the day with disinfectants and cleaning agents. From interior services including cleaning of the aircraft cabin, galleys, flight deck and toilets, dressing of seats and seat pockets, crew bunks and toilets, to changing and replenishment of blankets carpet and leather cleaning solutions, we are adhering to standard operating procedures issued by important authorities,” the spokesperson said.

While focusing on an aircraft’s cleaning, AISATS also follows safety protocols for its own staff by providing them with optimal safety and sanitation equipment.

“Our teams are following measures aligned with the guidelines issued by IATA {International Air Transport Association} , the government, DGCA, {Directorate General of Civil Aviation} and other important organizations. Our team is deployed round the clock and is working behind the scenes with airport and airline staff to help support and execute the cleaning process,” the spokesperson said.

Private airlines operating domestically are being as careful. Spicejet is carrying out “best-in-class” cleaning procedures on all its aircraft in addition to disinfecting customer touch points and surfaces before every flight, a spokesperson said.

“The cleaning procedure for flights includes a thorough wipe-down using an effective, high-grade, Boeing-approved disinfectant across aircraft interiors including the places customers touch most – the tray tables, seat covers, armrests, seatbelts, window shades and lavatories and their knobs,” the spokesperson said.

Spicejet said all its aircraft now have synthetic leather seats. “These non-porous seats don’t allow the Covid-19 virus to penetrate inside them and can be easily wiped off compared to standard fabric seats,” the spokesperson said.

Indigo, in addition to disinfecting aircraft, is also carrying out fumigation. “All common surfaces such as the baggage drop counters, boarding gates, coaches, ramps, wheelchairs, crew vehicles and of course, the aircraft itself, are being thoroughly disinfected using approved cleaning agents. The tray tables, armrests, overhead nozzles, lavatories and galleys are receiving special attention, given the frequency of contact,” a spokesperson said.

Om Dinekar, a student who returned to India in a Vande Bharat flight from France, said because he was sitting on the middle seat, he was made to wear a PPE suit.

“I therefore didn’t move at all in my eight-hour-flight and didn’t use the lavatory either. The aircraft looked clean, but how does one know if its disinfected. Only the airline would know how clean it was. I hope they maintain the best of standards,” Dinekar said.

Another passenger, Vijay Kale, who travelled to Delhi from Bangkok, said the cabin crew gave passengers five sachets of sanitizers. “The plane looked clean, but we do not know what cleaning agents were used and how effective are they. Crew were also ensuring minimum touch policy. Food was already placed on our seats and face shields were also provided,” he said.