Helicopter Association International (HAI) is introducing its COVID Clean Program, a project designed to help HAI members share their efforts to protect their customers and employees from infectious diseases. HAI assists participating companies by providing them promotional tools and support through social media and other digital channels.

The COVID Clean Program provides a list of recommended COVID cleaning standards and policies that companies must agree to when signing the pledge. These steps include disinfecting the helicopter between flights and conducting deep cleaning each night using guidelines provided by helicopter manufacturers and health organisations. Additionally, COVID Clean organisations pledge to wear masks and other appropriate personal protective equipment when working with the public and to maintain cleanliness standards in publicly accessible areas of the facility.

“We believe that most of our members are already taking these steps to protect themselves and their customers,” says James Viola, president and CEO of HAI. “We want to assist them in publicising these efforts so that anyone taking a flight is aware that the company takes their health seriously. Taking the COVID Clean Pledge provides these companies with tools to publicise and demonstrate their commitment to the health and safety of their passengers and crew in a visible and reassuring way.”

The HAI COVID Clean Pledge reads:

As a helicopter operator, we affirm that our highest priority is the safety of our customers, our crew, and the public. We are committed to ensuring that our passengers are protected in every possible manner. Therefore, we pledge to:

- Meet or exceed any applicable federal, state or municipal regulation introduced to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases

- Disinfect our aircraft, according to manufacturer recommendations, between every flight

- Conduct a deeper cleaning of our aircraft every night, according to manufacturer recommendations, or as often as necessary

- Continuously clean or disinfect our waiting area, our counters, our restrooms and any other publicly accessible area of our facility

- Require our flight and ground crews to use masks and gloves as long as recommended by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and/or the World Health Organization (WHO)

- Avoid transporting anyone who is visibly ill during our check-in process

- Recommend the use of masks and gloves to our passengers, making these personal protective equipment (PPE) items available to those who need them.

“HAI members know what they're doing when it comes to tour, charter and corporate flights,” adds Viola. “We expect that increased cleaning standards will become the new norm for public-facing companies. The more quickly we can help them build confidence among their passengers, the more quickly our industry can return to pre-pandemic operation levels.”