In June, Halifax Stanfield conducted a Passen - ger Expectations Survey, to understand what travellers wanted to see when they were ready to fly again. Over three-quarters of respondents unsurprisingly expected the airport to prioritize physical distancing, increased hand sanitizer, and enhanced cleaning. Eighty-six per cent of respondents said they believed HIAA would take the steps necessary to ensure the airport was a safe and healthy environment. “It was beneficial to understand what passengers expect to see when they travel at our airport and know that the measures they wanted to see were already in place,” said Baxter. “We were very pleased that, because of these efforts, we were accredited by the Airports Council Internation- al (ACI) Airport Health Accreditation program. This program was created during the pandemic to recognize airports that are providing a safe experience for travellers by introducing recom- mended global health measures and industry best practices.”
Although the situation continues to be dire, airports across Canada are adapting and evolving to find innovative solutions to their current chal - lenges. It’s expected that in the future, airport processes and infrastructure will change to increase consumer confidence by allowing for more physical distancing, fewer face-to-face interactions, touchless technology, and even permanent “health checks” for inbound and outbound passengers. No stranger to aviation industry crises through- out her 20 plus-year tenure at HIAA, Carter says health checks could become a permanent feature of air travel, much like the security screening measures that were introduced after 9/11. In fact, the Canadian Air Transportation Security Author- ity (CATSA) has already implemented tempera- ture checks at many Canadian airports, including Halifax Stanfield.
But what Halifax Stanfield is most interested in seeing introduced at all Canadian airports, said Carter, is standardized COVID-19 testing. She said four other Canadian airports, with support from their respective provinces and the federal government, are exploring using airport testing to increase public safety and in some cases, amend the 14-day isolation requirements. This is a science-based approach to support safer air travel that will bridge the period needed to effectively roll out vaccines around the world. “We are pleased to see other airports and prov- inces looking for ways to safely combine testing with reduced quarantine requirements. But most importantly, we applaud the government’s decision to collect data and increase community safety by testing at airports. We believe this can be part of a layered approach to public health measures that will include a vaccine, masks, dis- tancing, and other measures, to enable the safe
“Our people are a big part of the reason we are consistently recognized among the best airports of our size in the world. It has been a very difficult time for our entire team.”
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JANUARY 2021 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JANUARY 2021
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