Like many of you, everyone at L&B is practicing social distancing and doing their best to adjust to working from home. Our biggest priority is the health and safety of families, friends, and our aviation community as we prepare ourselves to navigate the challenges that each new day brings.
First, we would like to thank the airport community who continue to plan their futures despite the free fall of their airport traffic and the impact on finances. We applaud you for having the vision to realize our current situation will eventually pass and the airports need for shovel ready projects to put the citizens they serve back to work.
Governments recognize aviation systems need support in resuming their critical role as an economic engine that drives our global economy. Our aviation systems connect the far-flung corners of the globe, and we are confident aviation will resume its role as a driver of the global economy.
In recognition that our economy and our national aviation systems will eventually recover, this unprecedented event has prompted L&B to think about air travel in an environment where we will continue to cope with the COVID-19 virus and other pathogens in the future. Experts tell us that we will likely have a vaccine for COVID-19 in the foreseeable future. Medical researchers around the globe are working on better treatments for those who have fallen critically ill and the warmer spring weather for the Northern hemisphere may slow transmission. That said, health screening of at least some travelers is reasonably foreseeable. China has started to see an uptick in their domestic air travel and has implemented various types of screening procedures to eliminate issues that transpired at the onset of this pandemic. We are reviewing their procedures and identifying whether they are adaptable to other markets, either for international or for domestic travel use.
A recent poll showed that one in five Americans think they will wait until at least four months after being able to work at their offices to resume air travel. We have identified two key issues to enable a rapid return of service to our aviation system:
- We must have the confidence that our fellow travelers are not carriers of the virus.
- We must have confidence that our origins, hubs and destinations are safe for travel.
Implementing meaningful progress towards resolving both issues will require a multi-disciplinary response from government agencies, airlines, airports and air terminal operators. We have started to identify gaps in processes, facilities, systems, and policies that will need filling to ensure the safety of our passengers. Resolving these issues requires broad-minded planning, designs and management to facilitate discussions and provide technical approaches. This is where the aviation industry excels, and L&B is ready to harness our global experience to assist.
We are at the beginning of a new era for our aviation system. In the coming months, we will develop, test and evaluate new processes that assure the safety of air travel and the health of our fellow passengers. As an aviation community, L&B staff stand ready to support our customers and help navigate our industry through this crisis. Thank you for your continued support.