Future aircraft turnaround operations considering post-pandemic requirements

Abstract

Air Transportation is a major contributor to international mobility and has high requirements to ensure safe and secure operations. Aircraft ground operations are impacted significantly by the current pandemic situation so that standard operating procedures need a redesign to incorporate the upcoming sanitation requirements. In particular, the passenger boarding process is challenged with requirements for physical distances between passengers, while in addition to standard cleaning, the cabin has to be disinfected after each flight. We evaluate potential alterations of these two aircraft cabin processes with respect to a pre-pandemic reference aircraft turnaround. The implementation of microscopic approaches allows to consider individual interactions and a step-wise process adaptation aiming for an efficient operational design. We find a significant extension of boarding times (more than doubled) if the physical distance rule is applied. The new disinfection process further extends the critical path of the turnaround, so we see a high impact on airport and airline operations. To compensate for the increased workload and process times, we provide an integrated cleaning and disinfection procedure with additional personnel. Our results indicate that the pre-pandemic turnaround times cannot be maintained for the same seat load, even if the process adaptations are being implemented. However, a seat allocation scheme with empty middle-seats (seat load of 67%) and the use of an apron position (additional use of rear aircraft door for boarding) enable pre-pandemic turnaround times without additional cleaning personnel. Aircraft turnarounds at terminal positions require between 10% (with additional personnel) and 20% (without additional personnel) more ground time.

Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Air Transport: Overview and Implications

“…The airport hubs would have to increase the forms of passenger control, as well as increase the number of employees and services to prevent the slow down of the check-in and boarding times [78]. Standard operating procedures would also require redesigning to include the upcoming healthcare necessities [41]. With the objective of sustaining the declining capacities and revenues, the IATA is calling on the EU governments to provide relief to their airlines by building cost control plans and integrating innovations according to the demand for supporting their operations [79].…”

“…Observations on the field have revealed a prominent increase in the passenger boarding times following the individual health checks and the time dedicated to cabin disinfection. A redesign of the control procedures, therefore, becomes necessary [41]. Forecasts attest to a recovery of the air transport sector by 2022 for up to six years, although with a considerable influence of the geographical location, such as the Asia Pacific region expected to be the one that would have the fastest recovery, followed by North America and Europe [42].…”

COVID-19 pandemic and air transportation: Successfully navigating the paper hurricane

“…Following grouped pattern, pre-pandemic boarding times could be reached. Schultz et al (2020) Physical distance rules extend boarding times significantly (more than doubled). Reduced load factor can lead to pre-pandemic boarding times could be reached.…”

Analytical approach to solve the problem of aircraft passenger boarding during the coronavirus pandemic

“…In the context of physical distance, the International Aviation Transport Association (IATA) demands a distance of at least 1 m ( International Aviation Transport Association (IATA), 2020c ) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) a minimum of 6 feet (2 m) ( Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), 2020 ). In consideration of the underlying cellular automaton, which uses a grid structure with cells of 0.4 × .4 m size, and to maintain comparability of our results with preliminary studies ( Schultz and Fuchte, 2020 , Schultz et al, 2020 ), the minimum physical distance was set to 1.6 m. At this point, we assume that passengers are informed that a distance of 1.6 m corresponds to the distance of 2 seat rows, which offers proper visual guidance.…”

“…With a focus on airport operations, the impact of physical distances on the performance of security control lanes was analyzed to provide a reliable basis for appropriate layout adaptations ( Kierzkowski and Kisiel, 2020 ). The particular requirements for the cabin cleaning and disinfection during the aircraft turnaround also demand adjusted procedures ( Schultz et al, 2020 ).…”