A new system would replace roes of seats in airplanes with freight storage, allowing passengers to … [+]
If flying this summer meant sitting next to a crate full of diapers, would you do it? Experts say it may be the only way to get people in the air again during the Coronavirus pandemic.
The European Union and other governments are considering requiring airlines to implement social distancing on planes before allowing tourism to start up again this summer. With air travel down about 90%, most airlines are already keeping middle seats empty. But airlines say that real social distancing which would make a difference to health would not be feasible.
Health experts have pointed out that an empty middle seat, which is just 45cm (18 inches) wide, does not satisfy recommended social distancing of at least two meters (six feet). Because of the way airplanes are set up, respecting this rule would mean each passenger would need at least nine seats. Airlines say operating aircraft at such reduced capacity is not economically viable.
One company in the United States believes it may have the answer. HAECO, based in North Carolina, has launched a new initiative that can convert main passenger aircraft cabins into hybrid passenger-freight space. The company says it can convert a certain proportion of seats in a passenger aircraft into interior stowage devices within four to six weeks.
“Typically, aircraft seats are assembled in rows of three or four,” says Doug Rasmussen, President and Group Director of HAECO Cabin Solutions. “Each one of our systems is designed around such a three or four place seat assembly. So the airline could replace, for example, half of its 180 seats with cargo solutions and still fly 90 passengers in the same cabin.”
The storage capsules can either replace seats, or sit on top of them.
The idea isn’t as revolutionary as it might first sound. Passengers have already been travelling with freight cargo for years, even though they didn’t know it. “Most passengers do not realize that most passenger flights also carry ‘belly cargo’,” says Rasmussen, referring to freight transported in the luggage hold. “This freight source of revenue allows airlines to use the extra space below the passenger cabin to carry cargo, which is especially useful now that people tend to check fewer bags.”
Some passenger airlines have in the past even divided their cabins into two sections, one for freight and one for passengers. “Aircraft known as ‘combi airliners’ do exist, whereby half of a cabin is dedicated for passengers and half is meant for cargo,” he says. “The disadvantage here is that the cargo and passenger areas are fixed and divided by a wall which cannot be moved, and the cargo area will never be able hold passengers. Our solution enables airlines to optimize the number of passengers and the amount of cargo on each flight, rather than working within fixed dimensions.”
“The videos and images you may have seen online of cargo strapped down with nets to passenger seats is legal only if the cabin is empty of passengers,” he adds. “Our system will be the first and only to enable combined cabins.”
The combination system could be the key to rescuing both the passenger and freight aviation sectors. Isobel Fenton, Platform Curator for Aviation & Aerospace at the World Economic Forum, says that the sudden disappearance of passenger aviation is also affecting freight transport.
“Back in ‘normal’ times, a vast network of passenger flights did the heavy lifting for the transport of the air cargo,” she says. “Around 40% of annual global air cargo is typically transported in the bellyhold of passenger aircraft – contributing to the capacity pinch, with the vast majority currently grounded.” Less than 20% of global widebody plane capacity is now flying.
“Looking ahead to the post-crisis world when passenger travel can resume at scale, it will face similar challenges: non-harmonized policies, differing national regulations and uncoordinated border restrictions,” she adds. “If this is a glimpse into the resumption of passenger air services, it is very concerning.”
“The growing appetite for use of idle aircraft has met with various bottlenecks, like the lack of a global marketplace to connect the supply and demand, ad-hoc and decentralized efforts by government-driven missions operated by their national carriers, prioritizing essential goods and competitive dynamics of pricing. Also, blanket restrictions like 14-day quarantine for the entire crew and unharmonized testing, fast-changing border restrictions, operational curfews at airports threatens the timely delivery of essential supplies.”
Airlines in Europe, which are asking for more than €26 billion in bailouts, say that unless they receive urgent help, and normal passenger rights rules are suspended, they face bankruptcy.
Rasmussen says the quick deployment of interior stowage devices separating passengers could get both people and freight moving at the sale required to revive the economy. And he doesn’t think people will have an issue sitting next to cargo.
“This is a relatively new idea, but in the current environment, I would greatly prefer sitting next to some boxes rather than people,” he says.
