Just before Memorial Day Weekend—traditionally one of the busiest weekends for airlines—JetBlue is launching new health and safety measures in the hopes of making would-be travelers feel more comfortable on its planes during the coronavirus outbreak.
"Our hope is as shelter-in-place orders are lifted and states start opening up, that we do believe there’s going to be some pent up demand for some travel and JetBlue wants to be in a position to reassure customers when they are ready to travel again that we are there for them," says Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue's president and COO.
The new measures, which are part of the airline's "layered approach" to safety and were created with advice from an infectious disease specialist, include temperature screening for pilots and flight attendants, fogging aircraft cabins with disinfectant sprayers between flights, offering prepackaged meals and snack bags, and blocking middle seats through at least July 6.
"We don’t believe blocking seats on an aircraft is a sustainable long-term plan," Geraghty says. "But we do think in the short term, there’s an apprehension in traveling. All of [these safety measures] will contribute and work in concert together, but we don’t believe blocking a middle seat long-term is something that’s sustainable," she says, noting that JetBlue wants to maintain the lower fares that are a key component of its brand.
The New York–based carrier was the first U.S. airline to require all passengers and crew to wear face masks in the airport and on board starting on May 4. JetBlue says it's leaving additional screening measures, like temperature checks for passengers, tests for COVID-19, or immunity passports to government officials. "There’s certain things the government should be responsible for on a global and national level," Geraghty says. "I think an immunity passport is something that ideally would be set at a global level."
Similarly, today United Airlines is also launching a new cleaning and safety partnership with Clorox and Cleveland Clinic. The airline will use Clorox wipes and electrostatic sprayers at its hub airports and tap Cleveland Clinic medical experts for advice on new technology and training.
The new health and safety measures come as some carriers have seen a slight improvement in bookings going into Memorial Day Weekend, which usually kicks off the busy summer travel season.
"We are seeing cancellation and no-show rates come down. We are seeing some more interest in booking travel out into the fall and the winter time frame," Geraghty says. "We are also seeing some folks have been putting off some essential family travel, and so we’re seeing bookings that appear to be in that category." Although it's too soon to tell if these changes are hints at any long-term recovery, Southwest Airlines also reported a slight drop in cancellations and an uptick in bookings, too, according to Reuters.
"At this point we are looking at a very slow road to recovery," Geraghty says, noting that as a predominantly domestic leisure carrier, JetBlue could have an edge on recovering bookings over some other carriers that rely more heavily on international or business travel to turn a profit. "It’s very early to tell if some of the things we’re seeing are going to be with us in the foreseeable future, and so we’ll plan a lengthy period of recovery time." JetBlue is currently estimating its recovery to pre-crisis levels will last into late 2021, she says.
Despite the new safety measures, apprehension from passengers regarding air travel during coronavirus is "understandable," according to Geraghty. "From our perspective, flying is just as safe as anything you do when you leave the house," Geraghty says. "I think we’re making it even safer by putting in place all of these precautions that work together."
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