NYTimes.com Article: Airline Unions Recommend That Members Be Cautious

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Airline Unions Recommend That Members Be Cautious

April 14, 2003
By MICHELINE MAYNARD






Officials at the nation's airlines said last week that the
cleaning methods they had in place were already sufficient
to rid an aircraft of a mystery respiratory illness, even
if an infected passenger was found on board.

But airline unions are recommending that their members take
even more stringent action to protect themselves against
severe acute respiratory syndrome, known as SARS.

The issue is coming under scrutiny because of fears that
SARS is being spread around the world by air travelers.
Last week, the International Air Transport Association said
that the SARS virus could cause greater damage to the
airline industry than the war with Iraq.

The federal government requires aircraft to meet reasonable
levels of physical and air cleanliness, but it does not set
standards for how often planes must undergo thorough
cleaning, leaving both the methods and the cleaning agents
up to the airlines.

Cleaning procedures vary among airlines, but in general,
the airlines simply pick up trash, wipe up lavatories and
rearrange seat covers and seat belts during the day. At
Southwest Airlines, which can turn a plane around in 20 to
25 minutes after landing, among the fastest times in the
industry, the cleanup duties during and between flights
fall to flight attendants and pilots, said Ed Stewart, an
airline spokesman.

"It really isn't rocket science. There's a lot of zest,"
Mr. Stewart said. Because Southwest's crews get paid by the
trip, "the only way to get paid is to get the plane off the
ground," Mr. Stewart said.

In 1998, the Department of Transportation adopted a series
of recommendations by the International Air Transport
Association for dealing with passengers found to be
carrying infectious diseases. The standards, known as
Recommended Practice 1798, are to be put in place as
needed. Procedures include screening passengers at check-in
gates for symptoms of the disease, distributing masks and
gloves to airline personnel and passengers, and
disinfecting aircraft on which SARS-infected passengers
have traveled.

But a number of American carriers said that they did not
plan any special procedures to rid planes of SARS beyond
the regular cleanings that planes undergo.

United Airlines has not scheduled any additional cleaning
because of the SARS virus, Joseph Hopkins, a United
spokesman, said on Friday. United and Northwest Airlines
are the two main American carriers serving Asia.

Barry Brown, director of corporate safety and the
environment for Southwest, said he was not aware of special
methods for disinfecting a plane on which an infected
passenger had flown.

"Actually, I think we would follow the normal cleaning
procedures," Mr. Brown said on Friday. Mr. Brown said he
thought "the antiseptics currently used on the planes are
sufficient to kill the SARS bacteria" based on guidance
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although Southwest does not travel on international routes,
Mr. Brown said it was concerned about the SARS situation,
since a passenger flying from Asia could transfer to one of
its flights.

He said employees had received copies of directives issued
on April 1 from the C.D.C. In a fact sheet issued to
security personnel and cleaning crews, the C.D.C. said
cleaning crews could follow normal procedures under
ordinary circumstances, simply wearing gloves and washing
their hands after performing their jobs.

If assigned to clean a plane on which someone suspected of
having SARS had flown, the C.D.C. recommended that cleaners
throw away gloves that become torn or dirty and refrain
from using compressed air to clean the plane, since it
could spread germs. The C.D.C. said cleaning crews did not
have to wear masks or gowns.

But the International Association of Machinists and
Aerospace Workers, in an April 3 letter to its members,
recommended that cleaning crews working on flights that had
arrived from Asia wear protective masks as well as wash
their hands thoroughly.

"By taking even these simple precautions, you may be able
to avoid a very serious illness," said S. R. Canale,
president of Local 141 of the machinists' union, which
represents airline ground personnel.

The Association of Flight Attendants has called on the
Federal Aviation Administration to require airlines to make
masks and gloves available on all flights to and from Asia
and within Asia. However, the decision has been left up to
individual airlines. Many, including United, have said
masks would be provided if crew or passengers requested
them.

Most airlines give planes a more thorough cleaning at
night. At United, that involves cleaning and vacuuming the
carpet; washing hard surfaces like doors and windows;
wiping tray tables and arm rests; cleaning and disinfecting
bathrooms; wiping overhead bins; and arranging the seat
belts for the next day's passengers, Mr. Hopkins said.

At United, a deeper cleaning of the plane takes place every
15 days, involving a thorough cleaning of carpets and
upholstery and disinfecting of the bathrooms. Southwest
deep cleans its jets every 28 days, except for bathrooms,
which get a deep cleaning every 21 days.

The interest in cabin cleanliness prompted by SARS led the
Boeing Corporation to recommend a disinfectant product to
its customers for the first time. The disinfectant, called
EcoTru, does not corrode metal or plastic surfaces, and it
is safe to breathe, unlike some other products, said Mary
Jean Olsen, a Boeing spokeswoman. She said airlines were
not required to use the solution, though many are known to
follow the manufacturer's recommendations. United, for
example, uses a product made by the 3M Corporation called
HB Qwat disinfectant.

Boeing also chose the product because it had been used to
disinfect cruise ships earlier this year during an outbreak
of the Norwalk virus. EnviroSystems, a company based in San
Francisco that makes the solution, does not assert that the
product will kill the SARS virus, but the company hopes
that the disinfectant will stop its spread, said Dr.
Lawrence Weiss, EnviroSystems' chief scientist. However, he
warned that SARS type situations would recur.

"We've had Norwalk. We've had SARS. We're only going to
have more bad viruses coming down the road," Dr. Weiss
said. "Airplanes are the globalization mechanism for
infectious disease. Sick people get on airplanes and the
environment is contaminated."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/14/science/sciencespecial/14CLEA.html?ex=1051327269&ei=1&en=e72f753c0d60389e



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