Canada’s Largest Airlines and Airports Create Flight Plan for Navigating COVID-19

Canada’s two largest airlines, Air Canada and WestJet, and two largest airports, Greater Toronto Airports Authority, and Vancouver Airport Authority, have joined forces to help introduce the country’s new Flight Plan for Navigating COVID-19.

The plan lays out a set of best practices and uniform standards for health and safety, to ensure air travelers are protected along every step of their journey, including in airports and aircrafts. The plan includes travel restrictions; mandatory use of face masks for passengers and crew; mandatory health checks by air carriers prior to passenger boarding; temperature screening at Canadian airports and at points of origin for all incoming flights to Canada; restricted services and passenger movement during flights; and enhanced cleaning and sanitation protocols and practices.

“[The] Flight Plan represents the commitment of Canada’s aviation industry and Transport Canada to introduce innovative programs and policies that prioritize the health and well-being of airport workers and passengers in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Deborah Flint, President and CEO, Greater Toronto Airports Authority.

The plan offers a framework for restarting the aviation sector in Canada, including the implementation of health checks, face coverings, cleaning protocols, and other health and safety measures by airlines, and innovative solutions like a disinfection corridor, real-time air quality monitoring, UV light disinfection and autonomous floor cleaners throughout the airports.

The plan also provides an outline for potential future enhancements, many of which the organizations are already working to adopt.

“By aligning the Canadian aviation sector with best international practices for customer health and safety, the Government of Canada has now established the necessary science-based preconditions that assure customers of the highest levels of safety for air travel and for reopening Canadian aviation across provinces and to the world,” said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive of Air Canada.

“This is an important step to enabling business and the economy to safely restart alongside COVID-19, particularly the airline industry, which is a key economic driver.”

The Canadian Flight Plan will evolve further as the government continues to learn more about COVID-19, and it will implement additional best practices in line with international aviation safety standards.