New Heights Innovation in the air and on the ground keeps Alaskans flying.

• Author: Simonelli, Isaac Stone
• Position: TRANSPORTATION

Necessity continues to drive innovation in Alaska's aviation industry from COVID-19 protocols and expanded flight services to glass cockpits and FAA's Visual Weather Observation System.

In a state that's 663,000 square miles with only 1,082 miles of highway, demand on the aviation industry to meet remote community needs is unparalleled. In 2020, the industry's top concern was adjusting to COVID-19 to ensure employee and passenger safety.

Responding to COVID-19

At Alaska Airlines, this led to numerous changes, including the company roll out of contactless services, says Marilyn Romano, Alaska regional vice president for Alaska Airlines.

"Sometimes a crisis can also help you accelerate things that were already on a priority list somewhere," Romano says, referring to contactless travel, which allows passengers to do everything from booking to pre-ordering a cheese platter without ever having to physically hand someone a credit card.

"To be able to get that moved to the top of the list, focused on safety, was actually exciting for us because it was an innovation that we really, really wanted to do," Romano says.

Before the pandemic, Alaska Airlines aircraft were already equipped with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters, which cycle outside air into the plane, fully refreshing it every three minutes, Romano says.

Even so, as part of its COVID-19 protocols, Alaska Airlines put in place mandatory mask and social distancing requirements, as well as made hand sanitizer packets available for passengers.

"And then our enhanced cleaning," Romano says. "We have those incredible teams that go on to our airplanes and do major touchpoint cleanings, and then we do electrostatic spraying."

While all of Alaska's air carriers have now developed and implemented comprehensive cleaning plans, early in the pandemic accessing PPE and sanitation and cleaning supplies wasn't easy for anyone, says Grant Aviation President Rob Kelley.

"There was a period of time where hand sanitizer was pretty much impossible to come by, so we were producing it in house according to the World Health Organization (recommendations]," Vice President of Station Operations Cory Clark says.

Adding to the period of frantic activity as local carriers scrambled to source supplies and update flight protocols to meet state and federal guidelines, Ravn--Alaska's largest rural airline-grounded its fleet.

Alaska's no travel mandate took effect on March 28, and by April 2 Ravn had...