Cabin crew members of Indian airlines will have personal protective equipment (PPE) like face shields, gowns and masks as a part of their attire on commercial passenger flights once they resume operations, industry sources said.
India is under a lockdown since Annunciation to stop the spread of the coronavirus, and every one scheduled commercial passenger flights remain suspended.
Airlines like IndiGo, Air India, Vistara and AirAsia India have decided to travel with the new attire to make sure safety of cabin crew members as they’re in close proximity to passengers during flights, the sources said.
This would be almost like the apparel unveiled by Philippines AirAsia for its cabin crew on April 27. the apparel comprise a red-coloured full leotard consisting of a face shield and a mask .
“While AirAsia India will have face shields, masks, gowns, aprons and gloves as a neighborhood of their PPE attire for cabin crew members, Vistara would have a lap gown, mask and face shield because the new code ,” a source said.
Once commercial flights resume, each IndiGo’s crewman will need to wear a surgical mask, gloves, face shields along side a gown or a leotard , the sources said.
Air India, which is currently conducting repatriation flights under the Vande Bharat Mission to bring stranded Indians home from abroad, will have its crew members wear a leotard , gloves, face shield and mask even in scheduled commercial passenger flights, whenever they restart, the sources said.
The virus has infected quite 78,000 persons and killed quite 2,500 in India.
Earlier this month, the Civil Aviation Ministry asked Indian airlines and airports to offer their comments on a draft Standard procedure regarding the post-lockdown commercial flight operations.
On May 12, the ministry said on Twitter that it’s received comments from the stakeholders and is yet to issue the ultimate SOP.
