As low-cost carriers across Asia start taking to the skies again, most are following the lead of full-service airlines and taking precautions against the spread of the coronavirus from passengers that might be infected but asymptomatic. But with one exception – they won’t be blocking off middle seats to provide a measure of social distancing.
Aside from Thailand, where the government has imposed a regulation for each passenger to have one empty seat beside them on domestic flights, budget airlines will only be leaving the middle seat free if passenger loads permit it. In other words, if they can sell the middle seat, they will, which makes a mockery of all the social distancing requirements that they will be imposing for check-in and boarding.
Most budget airlines in Asia are refusing to block middle seats. Image: Stela Di
So why are they not following the lead of most full-service airlines and blocking the middle seat? It’s because that would hurt their profitability, according to a report in Business Today which quoted Indian airline bosses who were opposing moves by India’s aviation regulator to do the same as Thailand. Instead they want passengers to wear protective suits whilst on board (purchased at the passenger’s own expense no doubt) as well as masks and gloves..
In other countries, airline spokesmen are using the argument that social distancing is not required inside aircraft because the high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters in their air conditioning systems would prevent the spread of the virus. The CEO of AirAsia Philippines told CNN that all Philippine carriers would be relying on the use of HEPA filters.
That argument has been refuted by medical experts around the world. Dr Henry Wu, the head of the Emory TravelWell Center located in Atlanta told the New York Times that HEPA filters are “quite good” but they can’t prevent asymptomatic passengers from passing viral infections to others.
The airlines are reducing carry-on baggage allowances and removing inflight refreshments from services purportedly to minimise social distancing, but then expecting passengers to sit shoulder-to-shoulder, a situation of close proximity that Dr Wu says can’t be addressed by air filtration systems.
In response to criticism by international travellers, many of whom would be sharing an armrest with a stranger for many hours, airline bosses have fallen back on the argument that removing the middle seat won’t provide social distancing. The CEO of Ryan Air, Brendan O’Leary, told Sky News that there was less that two feet between the aisle and the window seat in his aircraft, so removing the middle seat would not achieve social distancing.
Leaving aside the fact that Mr O’Leary is only highlighting how uncomfortable his aircraft seats must be, the statement is laughable because it is obvious that leaving the middle seat free achieves a level of social distancing. Yes, it won’t achieve the 1.5 metres recommended by health authorities, but it will achieve at least half that, and any level of social distancing will help when there is a possibility that someone on board may be a carrier of the virus.
Other airline bosses have argued that it is not necessary to mandate leaving the middle seats free because so few people will be travelling for a while, they won’t fill them anyway. But that doesn’t give passengers a guarantee that they will have a free seat beside them when booking, so they will be buying tickets not knowing whether they will be on a half empty flight or on one that is full.
Low cost carriers need a load factor of around 85 percent to cover costs when offering cheap fares. Blocking middle seats on an Airbus A320 (the most common aircraft model used by Asian budget airlines) will mean they can only carry loads up to 67 percent (but that could be increased to more than 70 percent by permitting families of three to book three seats together).
That would mean fares would have to increase across the board by around 20-25 percent. So would passengers be prepared to pay that? My guess is that they would, given that most travel for a while will be for reasons other than going for a holiday or vacation. I for one would certainly be prepared to pay 20 percent more if I know I would be guaranteed an empty seat beside me – at least until such time as the spread of coronavirus infections has substantially subsided or we have all been vaccinated.
Budget airlines are hastily promoting new initiatives to assure the safety of passengers such as taking temperatures prior to boarding and disinfecting aircraft every night, but the most important initiative that they could be taking (aside from requiring passengers and crew to wear face masks) they are blatantly ignoring.
What is happening in the low-cost carrier sector of the airline industry is a total disregard for the safety of passengers in the chase to recover lost revenues after the pandemic. Airline bosses are thinking only of profits and satisfying the demands of shareholders – not the needs and safety of passengers.