Schultz Michael, Evler Jan, Asadi Ehsan, Preis Henning, Fricke Hartmut, Wu Cheng-Lung
Institute of Logistics and Aviation, Dresden University of Technology, Germany.
School of Aviation, University of New South Wales, Australia.
J Air Transp Manag. 2020 Oct;89:101886. doi: 10.1016/j.jairtraman.2020.101886. Epub 2020 Sep 28.
Air Transportation is a major contributor to international mobility and has high requirements to ensure safe and secure operations. Aircraft ground operations are impacted significantly by the current pandemic situation so that standard operating procedures need a redesign to incorporate the upcoming sanitation requirements. In particular, the passenger boarding process is challenged with requirements for physical distances between passengers, while in addition to standard cleaning, the cabin has to be disinfected after each flight. We evaluate potential alterations of these two aircraft cabin processes with respect to a pre-pandemic reference aircraft turnaround. The implementation of microscopic approaches allows to consider individual interactions and a step-wise process adaptation aiming for an efficient operational design. We find a significant extension of boarding times (more than doubled) if the physical distance rule is applied. The new disinfection process further extends the critical path of the turnaround, so we see a high impact on airport and airline operations. To compensate for the increased workload and process times, we provide an integrated cleaning and disinfection procedure with additional personnel. Our results indicate that the pre-pandemic turnaround times cannot be maintained for the same seat load, even if the process adaptations are being implemented. However, a seat allocation scheme with empty middle-seats (seat load of 67%) and the use of an apron position (additional use of rear aircraft door for boarding) enable pre-pandemic turnaround times without additional cleaning personnel. Aircraft turnarounds at terminal positions require between 10% (with additional personnel) and 20% (without additional personnel) more ground time.
航空运输是国际出行的主要方式，对确保安全可靠的运营有很高要求。当前的疫情形势对飞机地面作业产生了重大影响，因此需要重新设计标准操作程序，以纳入即将到来的卫生要求。特别是，乘客登机过程面临着乘客之间保持物理距离的要求，此外，除了标准清洁外，客舱在每次飞行后都必须进行消毒。我们针对疫情前的参考飞机周转情况，评估这两个飞机客舱流程的潜在变化。微观方法的实施允许考虑个体交互以及逐步的流程调整，以实现高效的运营设计。我们发现，如果应用物理距离规则，登机时间将显著延长（增加一倍以上）。新的消毒流程进一步延长了周转的关键路径，因此我们看到对机场和航空公司运营有很大影响。为了弥补增加的工作量和流程时间，我们提供了一个配备额外人员的综合清洁和消毒程序。我们的结果表明，即使实施了流程调整，对于相同的座位载客量，也无法维持疫情前的周转时间。然而，采用中间座位为空的座位分配方案（座位载客量为67%）以及使用停机坪位置（额外使用飞机后舱门登机），无需额外清洁人员就能实现疫情前的周转时间。在航站楼位置的飞机周转需要的地面时间增加10%（配备额外人员）至20%（不配备额外人员）。
