Submitted by Gumbeaux:

. . . It’s gotta be more pleasant than air travel in the future. Yikes!

Future Air Travel: Four-Hour Process, Self Check-In, Disinfection, Immunity Passes
Forbes | 05/10/2020 | Cecelia Rodriguez

Let’s start with the entire process of checking in for flights, which some calculate that it could take up to four hours and involving social distancing, sanitation of passengers and luggage, wider spaces for various lines and waiting to board.

Among the steps under consideration: no cabin bags, no lounges, no automatic upgrades, face masks, surgical gloves, self-check-in, self-bag-drop-off, immunity passports, on-the-spot blood tests and sanitation disinfection tunnels.

Digital technologies and automation will play a critical role in the future of air travel. The need to reduce “touchpoints” at airports implies mandatory use of biometric boarding that allows passengers to board planes with only their face as a passport.

Then there are the radical changes the airports will have to make starting most probably with stopping non-fliers from entering at all except for unaccompanied minors or others who need assistance.

. . . including having bags ‘sanitagged’ after going through fogging, electrostatic or UV-disinfection to restore confidence in flying after COVID-19.

On the planes, there will be blocked seats, electrostatic spraying, personnel in protective gear and, of course, masks. Major European carriers such as Air France and KLM already have made them compulsory and it’s expected that all other airlines will do the same.

As for food, the tendency is to stop serving altogether on short-haul flights, while the airlines consider ‘light refreshments’ for long-haul flights. Hong Kong Airlines has decided to stop offering food altogether.

“Arriving passengers will also undergo another temperature screening at their final destination and potentially even blood tests for COVID-19,” Conde Nast predicts.