Coronavirus has made a huge impact on travel and our sense of safety on airplanes. In thinking about this problem, I like to dream up solutions rather than feel defeated by the idea of travel being forever limited.
What if there was a high tech fabric that allowed air to flow through it but would not allow virus molecules to make it through. Perhaps it could be an ultraviolet fabric or an antibacterial fabric. Seating would have to be redesigned to accommodate the fabric between passengers AND it would have to be designed beautifully to not freak people out.
The current layout of airplanes would make this concept difficult to implement without airlines surrendering to a less full flight. Placing a fabric between packed seats would be a safety hazard and would be socially creepy.
Changing the seats on a flight to be more scattered would allow more creative solutions for social distancing or designing barriers between passengers. One problem with this would be families. People with small children could probably want sit all together without a fabric between each person. Three seat arrangement with a fabric separator could work for a family.
A way to sell people on an ultraviolet fabric that could cover them on a flight would be to make if interactive and customizable. Each fabric piece would have a programmable surface and passengers could use their phones to select their canvas or images for the flight. It would be almost like a magic experience where a flight becomes like a theater. Movies and games could project on the inside of the fabric in a really fun way.
In the video below — the LED lights in these fabric samples could be replaced with ultraviolet lights. The way that tech can weave into fabric is amazing and I feel we could use this to our advantage.
Ultimately the best solution to reclaiming comfort on airplanes is to have a vaccine for coronavirus. But I am afraid that even with a solution, the fear that this has caused in our current lives and the awareness of airborne diseases being more transmittable on planes is something that is going to linger around longer than we can know. Creating a physically barrier can be a great solution.