Air Canada announced the launch of Air Canada CleanCare+, a program for personal safety and enhanced aircraft grooming.
The new program is designed to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19 through measures such as mandatory pre-flight customer temperature checks in addition to required health questionnaires, seat assignment policies to allow for more personal space in Economy Class on all flights until June 30, 2020, and by providing all customers with care kits for hand cleaning and hygiene.
Air Canada CleanCare+ will include the introduction of electrostatic spraying of cabin interiors. Air Canada will expand its existing aircraft grooming procedures, which already incorporate the use of hospital grade disinfectant and specialized techniques to maintain cabin cleanliness across its fleet.
"While we are eager to see the reopening of economies and the restart of commercial aviation, the safety of our customers and employees is Air Canada's core value and we aim to establish the highest standards of hygiene, cleanliness and attention to public health guidelines. We have been a leader in progressively introducing new measures in response to COVID-19, such as introducing Personal Protective Equipment for our employees and being the first North American carrier to require face coverings for customers. We are now the first airline in the Americas to administer pre-flight temperature checks system-wide. With Air Canada CleanCare+, we are introducing a comprehensive new program to give each customer added assurance for their well-being throughout all stages of their journey - and we intend to continue enhancing Air Canada CleanCare+ where we can with best practices from around the world, including increased use of screening tools, such as blood oxygen level testing, as they become available," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada.
Other measures include:
- Customers traveling on Air Canada flights will be subject to an infra-red temperature check at all airports.
- To promote more personal space in Economy Class aboard its aircraft, Air Canada will automatically block the sale of adjacent seats and cap the total number of seats sold for each flight. As a result, no customer in Economy Class will be required to sit immediately adjacent to another, unless they are required to do so to assist another customer with whom they are travelling. The policy will remain in effect until at least June 30, 2020.
- Air Canada will begin distributing care kits containing hand sanitizers and other health items to all customers.
- Air Canada has already been recognized by the 2019 Skytrax World Airline Awards for Best Airline Cabin Cleanliness in North America. With the onset of COVID-19 the airline has strengthened its cabin grooming standards and will begin using state-of-the-art electrostatic sprayers to ensure a deeper clean with hospital grade disinfectant.
