Commercial Airlines

Out with the Old (normal), In with the New

As COVID-19 continues its assault on the global population, there is widespread talk of a “new normal”. For sure, things will be different, but just how different? And is “different” necessarily a bad thing? In one form or another, this pandemic has touched every industry, but let’s take a look at some things that have already changed for the better.

YOU THINK? Instead of shrinking passenger seats and focusing solely on profits, it would have been nice if airlines made cleanliness a pre-pandemic priority. The big questions going forward for the industry are, will all of this attention to health and safety eventually take a backseat to a “profit-first” mentality, or will “all” of the new sanitation protocols remain in place?

If you have lived in a city like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, or Washington D.C., you probably know what it means to ride a crowded commuter train during rush hour. On top of worrying about how clean the seats are, there are horizontal metal bars suspended from the ceiling and vertical metal bars from floor to ceiling that standing passengers grab while the train is moving. Also, having lived in New York and Atlanta, I know firsthand that subway trains serve dual roles as mass transit by day and shelter for the homeless at night. Regarding the New York City subway system, the following excerpt was taken from a CBS News website:

Service officially shut down between 1 and 5 a.m. at all 472 stations in order to disinfect cars and platforms and to prevent the homeless from riding overnight. Police say 1,000 officers will patrol the system during those hours.

Mayor Bill De Blasio said,

“Last night, 139 homeless individuals out of 252 engaged by our outreach workers and by the NYPD officers specially trained in homeless outreach, 139 individuals agreed to accept support, accept services, and come in off the streets, come in out of the subways. This number is extraordinary,” the mayor said Wednesday.

“We have, more importantly, never, ever seen so much success in a single night before. We’ve never seen this many people, this high a percentage of people who are living on the streets agree to do something different.

“This number is staggering,” he added.

Before COVID-19, did anyone at the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority ever think that thoroughly cleaning the subway cars would be good for public health? But aside from sanitizing the trains, this is definitely a win for the homeless. The big questions here are, once we emerge from this crisis, will the MTA continue to shutdown service at all 472 stations to disinfect the trains, and moreover, will the same level of outreach be extended to the homeless?

Mass transit is only one of many industries that, out of necessity, has taken measures to up their game and do what they should have been doing as standard operating procedure. What about our roads and highways? Now that so many folks are working from home, the roads and highways are relatively traffic-free. Is now a good time to tackle a redesign of our highway infrastructure? This is definitely a topic worth further discussion, but for now let’s move on to another hot item.

How will companies address social distancing for workers who are returning to the office? This is a big deal! Before COVID-19, some forward-thinking managers were comfortable allowing their team members to work remotely. For the most part though, other managers felt they needed to see their workers seated in front of computers. From those manager’s perspective, an employee’s physical presence was a higher priority than their productivity.

What a difference a pandemic makes! Now, with the exception of essential workers in hospitals, grocery stores, package delivery, and certain factories, practically everyone who is still employed is working remotely. And guess what? Gas prices have dipped to record lows because far fewer people are driving cars. I vividly recall walking the streets of Bengaluru, India last year and suffering through choking exhaust fumes from cars and motorcycles. Today, the air in India is so clean, you can see for miles.

Now that employers have been forced to accept a remote workforce, they have had time to reflect on the benefits. One of the main windfalls is the savings they will reap by reducing their real estate footprints. If a worker is commuting to the office for the sole purpose of sitting in front of a computer and being accounted for, then they might as well work remotely. Eliminating long commutes to and from the office and, for those who drive, getting rid of fluctuating gas prices, will yield incredible savings in time and money for employees. Employers should consider repurposing office space as state-of-the-art meeting places equipped for video conferencing, and outfitted with appropriately spaced seating that teams can reserve for times when they need to meet face-to-face.

As I stated earlier, this one is a big deal. Some employers will still want their workforce onsite and visible. In such cases, consider splitting the office population into two teams. When Team A is in the office on Monday and Tuesday, Team B will work remotely. When Team A is working remotely on Wednesday and Thursday, Team B will be in the office. Both teams will always work remotely on Friday. The next week, Monday through Thursday schedules are reversed. This way, the office will have enough space to enforce social distancing; workers still get to work remotely; team members will get to meet on two consecutive days; and each team will benefit from three remote days followed by the weekend, followed by two remote days. Figure 1 shows sample “sliding schedules” for two teams.

This schedule addresses quality of life in several ways. First, commute times and expenses will be drastically reduced with a side benefit of reducing the carbon footprint. Second, every worker will have seemingly longer weekends because Friday commutes will become a thing of the past. And third, each employee will have seven consecutive days (with weekends in between) to work from a remote location that is not necessarily their home. For example, if they wish to visit family.

There are many opportunities to rethink what a work week might look like. Some companies might even consider a four-day work week. Now is the time to wipe the slate clean and start anew. Let go of old traditions and put everything up for discussion and redesign.

If you think working remotely is a big topic, it is nothing compared to education. When it comes to delivering a high-quality education for grades K-12, there are countless variables to consider. Online learning is not effective for every child. In addition, not every household has access to high speed Internet or a capable computer workstation for multimedia learning. Also, if kids are attending some or all of their classes remotely, will teachers be required to be on campus every day?

We all know that education is ripe for reform. From the high cost of college tuition to the challenge of getting kids more involved in STEAM-related classes (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics). Should college classes that are taken 100% online cost the same as on-campus offerings? What about the cost of hybrid classes that are a mixture of on-campus and online? COVID-19 has already upset the education applecart, so we might as well take this opportunity to rethink what it means to deliver a quality education to children and adults.

So far I’ve highlighted some of the obvious areas ripe for rethinking; transportation, office real estate, remote work, and education. Those are just the tip of the iceberg. There is much more to discuss and plenty of opportunity for change and innovation. The next installment of this series will do a deep dive into education and attempt to highlight issues that make this such a challenging topic.

Your thoughts and comments are welcome.

Stay tuned.

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