Ground_Support_August_2020 - 29

AVP SPECIAL
REPORT

the chemical lasts on the surfaces.
"We're also recommending more thorough deep, or heavy, cleans," Giacona says.
"A heavy clean is a very labor-intensive
clean on an aircraft. It's not just walking
on, wiping down a tray table and vacuuming the floors.
"We're currently doing heavy cleans on a
nightly basis for a domestic carrier, where
we're doing them every single night in all of
their locations that they have AccuFleet in,"
he continues. "That clean basically entails
scrubbing the airplane down from top-tobottom. We're using disinfection chemicals.
We're cleaning every crack and crevice, to
the point where we even remove the seat
tracks off the floor and clean underneath
them."
A deep clean on a 737 takes approximately 40 man-hours to accomplish,
Giacona says. So, for AccuFleet to accomplish this, a group of 6-8 people clean an
aircraft continuously for 5-6 hours.
While many cleaning agents can be utilized to disinfect aircraft, Giacona urges
ground handlers to be mindful of an airline's approved-chemical list.
Beyond cleaning services, at WinMar
Engineering Technologies, officials are
utilizing technology developed by Far-UV
Sterilray to disinfect the air.
"We know the SARS-2 coronavirus,
similar to SARS-1, spreads in the air when
people are just exhaling," says Ed Neister,
chief scientist at Far-UV and inventor of
Excimer Wave Technology. "The virus,
before any symptoms show, are going to
be exhaled in little, tiny, 1-micron aerosol
droplets that the human body normally
makes.
"We consider air disinfection very
important."
Marty Craig, managing director with
WinMar Engineering Technologies, also
works for ADSI - an FAA Part 145 repair
station. Years ago, ADSI applied the Sterilray program to aircraft in order to keep
cabin air systems clean.
"That subsequently led to many other
long-term interactions and planning," Craig
says. "We started WinMar Engineering to
do some of the engineering for the ground
services segment - not only cabin air
inflight operations, but also ground han-

Photos courtesy of Far-UV Sterilray

dling and ground-related items."
Sterilray manufacturers lamps that project a specific type of ultra-violet light that
targets the proteins and peptide bonds of
bacteria and viruses.
"Coronavirus turns out to be very, very
susceptible to the Far-UV Light," Neister
says. "It targets the capsid in the virus, and
that's why it kills the virus so well."
With limited modification, the system
can be used elsewhere.
"On the ground side of it, it's particularly
focused on operational centers, air cargo
container areas, gateways, jetways, any
enclosed area that supports the commercial
operations of aircraft - including FBOs and
things like that as well," Craig says.
The lamp can be made as small as a
magic marker or as much larger fixtures.
"We have a wand that we can move over
the surface that we want to disinfect - at
1 foot per second to 2 feet per second and
get 100-percent disinfection," Neister says.
"We also have, what we call Luminaires,
which are lamps in a fixture that sits in
the top of a hung ceiling."
Lamps mounted to hoists and rail systems also allow flexibility for cleaning these
areas.
According to Neister, the Far-UV light is
not harmful to human skin and is also safe
when working with animal cargo.

In the Terminal
With a host of new challenges created
by the COVID-19 pandemic, airports are
examining their operations. One of the biggest permanent changes likely to be seen
is a fundamental shift in cleaning services
inside the terminal.
Jeffrey Holaly, key account director for
ISS, says cleaning programs traditionally

focused on aesthetics,
but not the science
of disinfection. The
pandemic created a
need for change that
is likely to persist.
"A lot of airports
and airlines wanted
the perception that
everything was clean,
but they didn't want to
necessarily see people
cleaning," he says.
"Now we've seen a
shift to airports and airlines wanting those
cleaning folks to be visible at all times and
for people to actually see them doing the
cleaning work."
Thomas O'Rourke, director of aviation,
North America for ISS, says airport terminal cleaning programs are likely going to
evolve into cleaning/disinfecting programs
after the pandemic is over. They will implement technology and techniques to not just
clean the facilities but kill viruses.
O'Rourke says making cleaning and
disinfecting efforts visible will be key in
gaining back the public trust in travel. They
want to know they're being protected in the
terminal and on the plane.
"Optics is absolutely crucial at this
moment," he says.
Cleaners at Hollywood Burbank Airport
(BUR) are using electrostatic sprayers to
provide a deep clean to the terminal.
Allen Dishman, senior director of operations for Diverse Facility Solutions (DFS),
which handles cleaning at BUR, says the
sprayer allows efficient disinfecting of
areas within the terminal by spraying
a positively charged 3M C. diff material
onto surfaces.

AUGUST 2020

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