Coronavirus- Rostering and Seating Issues
Coronavirus has created a new problem for airlines to manage:
It seems to me that there could now be at least 6 groups of passengers and crew sharing the air in the confined space of an aircraft.
It is important to distinguish these Groups when seating passengers and rostering crew.
Group A
Persons who have had Coronavirus and who are no longer infectious.
Group B
Persons who have had Coronavirus asymptomatically without realising they had it and who are no longer infectious.
Group C
Persons who currently have Coronavirus asymptomatically and genuinely do not know it but who could infect the people around them.
Group D
Persons who have not yet had Coronavirus and who could become infected with potentially fatal consequences.
Group E
Persons who think they have had Coronavirus because they suffered from Influenza or a similar condition during the Coronavirus pandemic but do not have Coronavirus. They too could become infected
Group F
Persons who are currently suffering from Coronavirus and suspect they are suffering from it but, for different reasons, do not care about infecting others.
This raises some interesting questions:
For example: Should you roster a Group E captain with a Group C first officer?
One problem is that Group E and F persons will probably declare themselves to be in Group A. Another problem is that Group B persons will think are Group C persons.
How do you seat these different groups of passengers?
Do you allow 2 meter spacing ?
Does it matter if you do not know for certain who is in which group?
No doubt the airlines will have robust and carefully designed plans to manage these issues before they resume their flying programmes.
Discuss.