Designing the Future of Air Travel Post-Covid-19.

Within the framework there are two main goals, first to protect crew and passengers and secondly to relieve anxiety from travel. To respond to the concerns of consumers the first goal has to be based on CDC and WHO procedures and interpreted to work within aviation. This will require the implementation of best practices for infection identification, social distancing and minimizing microbial contact due to surface transferal.

Only after these practices have been adopted can airlines start a process of communication and consideration. This can be imparted through crew engagement with passengers, interactive procedures and of course, sharing the relevant sanitation levels of the aircraft through existing and new airline branded communication channels.

But how can Clean Design promote human compassion? After all, the quickest way of making an impact is by retraining human behavior. For many years the airline industry has already created subconscious habits in the airline environment, from how we navigate an airport through to how we eat and sit onboard.

The most immediate and impactful changes will come by inspiring behavioral changes in passengers.

While Clean Design technologies like biometric ID and touchless operation are obvious physical manifestations of the future of flight, the natural development cycle of in-cabin products precludes them from being helpful when they are needed most, that’s why one of the key desired outcomes of our framework is that it immediately inspires compassionate behavioral change.

The World Health Organization recognizes the value of human behavior in managing pandemics. It has stated in its Outbreak Communications Planning Guide that behavioral changes can reduce the spread of infectious diseases by as much as 80%. No doubt everyone has caught themselves falling into old habits, which are counter-productive to the spread of the disease, i.e. forgetting to wash hands or touching surfaces inadvertently, cross contaminating and continuing the spread of a contagion. While new surfaces – such as copper and silver nitrate – are antimicrobial and help in the limit of contamination, it is human behavior that has the biggest impact.

The fundamental near-term solution needs to be rooted in human behavior as the altering the actions of humans will have the biggest impact on the hygiene of a cabin. Even the most concerted of us could still have habits that breed contagions. But with the education piece currently missing on best practice, passengers are rudderless in their approach to mitigating the spread of germs and viruses.

But how can airlines encourage human behavior through the use of design? Of course, there is the safety video and other airline communication channels to impart best practice. There are also small wins, such as branding face masks as part of amenity kits to reduce the psychological distress of being greeted by a clinical product – the same reason a child’s hospital gown features cartoon characters. Hand sanitizers will become a branded opportunity for airlines as common as branded hand soaps in lavatories, perhaps delivered pre and post-food service. Whatever the implementation, human psyche is based on herding instincts and synchronized behavioral changes are highly visual, positive reinforcements.

Clean Design is the North Star for an evolving travel industry.

Not only are there near term solutions, now is a time for airlines to initiate a longer-term strategy to becoming healthcare-oriented travel companies, and ‘clean-design’ with its many tools must be their North Star. It has taken most brands several weeks – if not months – to adopt new ‘normal’ consumer experiences. We’ve seen supermarkets around the world as early adopters of new hygienic standards, but eyes will turn to the airline industry as it resumes its service to see how it is adapting. With the right tools at airline’s hands including new products, training and communication strategies, passengers could be in for a safer experience in the coming months.

Now is the time for airlines to initiate a longer-term strategy to become healthcare-oriented travel companies.

However, the key to this is in being led by a Clean Design framework, whereby the equilibrium between both the airline and customer ownership is achieved. In the future air travel could be safer than it has ever been but in the short term, “We are all in this together" might be the most obvious solution in taking the first steps in the right direction.

This article was originally published in Aircraft Interiors International magazine.