We've all been there. You're flying off somewhere exotic on holiday, you board the aeroplane, get comfortable and settle in for the long haul. Aside from the obvious leg room bugbear and of course the crying baby, there is one person you definitely do not want to sit near. A sneeze or sniff, cough or splutter, or fierce nose blow will kill that jubilant holiday feeling in a heartbeat.
Arriving at a destination feeling lousy – and not just sleep deprived – is something we are all keen to avoid. We know aircraft are notorious breeding grounds for germs, but aside from the annoyance and inconvenience of catching a cold mid-flight, there is actually a far more serious issue when it comes to health on an aircraft. This has been highlighted by recent cases of Ebola being flown around the world.
If people are carrying highly contagious diseases of one type or another, it is at risk of actually staying on the aircraft, being incubated, and infecting countless other travellers after.
The Challenge
The challenge this month is therefore to come up with an effective way of disinfecting aircraft between flights. At the moment, apart from any obvious spills, there is not much in the way of cleaning trays, seats or the cabin generally. And with such quick turnarounds, hundreds of people can sit in a seat before it is properly cleaned at a prolonged maintenance period.
While a filter system might well keep air quality in check, this is specifically about making sure that any germs do not stay onboard and infect the next lot of passengers. And it is near impossible for flight attendants to wipe down every surface that someone with an infection has touched.
Solutions need to keep in mind that disinfection needs to be done quickly, and well within the turnaround time of an aircraft, say 15 to 20 minutes. And it needs to kill near enough all known germs, certainly in excess of 99% of them.
The main areas that should be targeted are the seats, head rests and tray tables, as this is where you spend most of your time while in the air. And any method needs to be residue and odour free, as the last thing anyone wants is to board a plane with a thick smell of disinfectant, or be greeted with a wet seat fresh from cleaning.
The idea we have in mind will be revealed next month. In the meantime, see what you can come up with. If there are any ideas you want to share with us please go to the Coffee Time Challenge section of the website and leave us a comment, or email your idea to tfryer@findlay.co.uk
Our solution comes from GermFalcon. While the name is perhaps questionable, the technology is no doubt effective.
The GermFalcon is a six-foot tall fully-automated robot that has the footprint of a flight attendant’s trolley. Once placed in the aisle, it opens its ‘wings’ (hence the falcon), which are essentially two arms that hang over the seat, a little like a farmer spraying crops.
However, instead of spraying, the arms are lined with ultraviolet ‘C’ lights, which disinfect all commonly touched surfaces of the passenger cabin with a proven 99.99% germ kill rate, all in less than 15 minutes.
In addition to aircraft, this could be applied to trains or underground seats that are also notorious breeding grounds for germs and infections.
The company is currently raising funds on Kickstarter and says that germs survive on aircraft surfaces sometimes as long as seven days.
