Ground_Support_August_2020 - 30

AVP SPECIAL
REPORT

"We wanted to bring this equipment on
board because now it gives us the ability to
spray all touchpoint surfaces that are public
facing," he says. "We want the passenger
experience to be a hygienic one."
The sprayers can also help in the event
of an immediate COVID-19 infection at the
airport. If an employee or a passenger is
diagnosed with the virus, the unit can be
deployed for immediate disinfection.
"Because the micron is small enough,
I'm also able to spray keyboards, gate agent
stands and electronics," Dishman says.
"Before it's a little more of a challenge to
disinfect electronics and get the proper
dwell time."
The new requirements will change the
way staff cleans. O'Rourke notes there's
extensive training that goes along with
utilizing new techniques and technology,
so front-line cleaners will need more skills
to meet new standards.
"The big challenge is education," he
says. "We have to make sure staff is educated on proper procedures and PPE safety
around the whole evolution of cleaning/
disinfection.
"The challenge is the mindset, the
paradigm shift that it's not just spraying
window cleaner on a widow and wiping it
down. There' a difference between being

Cleaning crews at Hollywood Burbank Airport wipe down areas during
the daytime hours and deploy a sprayer at night to add a an additional
level of disinfection.
Photo courtesy of Jerson Ramirez, DFS site director for Burbank Airport

clean and being disinfected."
Holaly said electrostatic spraying of
disinfectant will likely become the new
standard inside all areas of the airport.
He also expects airports and airlines to
ask for more frequency of disinfection in
their contracts.

The Neo is self-learning, so whenever a piece of furniture is moved
at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, it will adjust its
routes accordingly.
Photo courtesy of Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG)

30 GROUND SUPPORT WORLDWIDE

AUGUST 2020

Expect major change in airport technology as well. O'Rourke said he sees airports
implementing more touchless technology
and air handling systems bringing in more
outside air instead of recycling from inside
the terminal. He also expects more UV
lighting placed inside air handling ducts
to kill bacteria.
At Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky
International Airport (CVG), officials
implemented autonomous robots in April
to aid in terminal cleaning. The Avidbots
Neo robot was deployed to autonomously
clean floors throughout the terminal on a
continuous basis to ensure a high-quality,
healthy experience for travelers.
The autonomous floor scrubbing robot
uses artificial intelligence, cameras and
3D sensors to adapt to its environment
and automatically update its route to avoid
obstacles.
Neo avoids people, suitcases, furniture,
displays and other items.
Faizan Sheikh, CEO and co-founder of
Avidbots, says the robot use 3D cameras
and lidar to perceive its environment. One
of the robots can clean 80,000 to 120,000
square feet on one charge, depending on
the layout of the obstacles present in the
facility.
Ground_Support_August_2020

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