DGCA to airlines: Keep middle seats vacant or provide ‘wrap-around gowns’

Before resumption of the domestic flight services, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had pointed out that social distancing requirements would not be met even if middle seats in flights were kept vacant insisting that those seats would be filled up too.

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The return flight took off at 3.20 pm and there were just five passengers on board. (Source: Getty/Thinkstock)

Following an order by the Supreme Court that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) should consider norms based on the health of passengers rather than that of commercial airlines, the regulator has asked carriers to try to keep middle seats on flights vacant and provide “wrap-around gowns” to passengers who are allowed such seats.

In an order on Monday, the DGCA said: “The airlines shall allot the seats in such a manner that the middle seat/seat between two passengers is kept vacant if the passenger load and seat capacity permits the same. However, members of same family may be allowed to sit together”.

As domestic air services resumed May 25 after a two-month break, airlines provide passengers a safety kit with a three-layered surgical mask, face-shield and sachets of sanitiser prior to boarding. “If middle seat/seat between two passengers is occupied due to passenger load, then additional protective equipment like ‘wrap-around gown’ (Ministry of Textiles-approved standards) shall be provided to the individual occupying the intervening seat …,” the DGCA order added.

The directions will be effective from June 3. The decision to practice greater social distancing in flights also assumes significance as at least 30 domestic air travelers have tested positive upon arrival at their destinations with almost all of them being asymptomatic.

Last month, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said that experts were of the opinion that even if the middle seat was left vacant, social distancing norms may not be followed.

“Airlines the world over have not gone for this option … the commercial viability of the operations have also been considered. The economics of ticket pricing, in case of a vacant middle seat, would take air travel beyond the reach of general public,” he had said.

Last week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had said in its Covid-19 guidelines: “ … social distancing is difficult on crowded flights, and you may have to sit near others (within 6 feet), sometimes for hours. This may increase your risk for exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19”.

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However, the US CDC also noted that “most viruses and other germs” did not spread easily on flights because of how air circulates and is filtered on airplanes.

On May 25, the Supreme Court had pulled up DGCA and Air India, which is operating international repatriation flights, for allotting middle seats on these flights. It court ruled that middle seat bookings on these flights would be allowed only until June 6, and asked Bombay High Court to decide on a plea that called for middle seats to be kept vacant.

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