February 1, 2020 China Update: Extra bottled water for handwashing for aircraft scheduled for Maintenance care Dear Colleagues, In light of the importance of handwashing as one of the most effective measures to mitigate the risk of the coronavirus, we’ve made some changes to our onboard supplies, including those provisioned should an aircraft need to be operated with an onboard water system that is scheduled for maintenance repair. MASKS, GLOVES AND HAND SANITIZING SUPPLIES INCREASED ON ASIA FLIGHTS Supplies of masks, gloves and hand sanitizing wipes for Hong Kong, Narita, Incheon, Taipei and Haneda flights have been increased to: • • • 80 masks total packaged for Outbound and Inbound crew 100 gloves 3 boxes of hand sanitizing wipes Current supplies on other flights remain the same and should this change we will be sure to let you know. Hand sanitizer, gloves and surgical masks for any flight are always available for pick up at your crew centres. BOTTLED WATER FOR HANDWASHING BOARDED FOR WATER SYSTEMS SCHEDULED FOR MAINTENANCE CARE Our Maintenance team makes every effort to ensure onboard water systems are fully functional. When this is not possible and we need an aircraft to operate our schedule before it can be repaired, we’ve taken the following steps given the current environment: • • • Widebody aircraft with broad water system issues will not operate on international routes. Should a water system issue occur at destination, ample additional bottled water will be boarded to provide for handwashing for all crew and customers. Widebody aircraft with limited water system issues will be boarded with ample additional bottled water to facilitate handwashing. Narrow body aircraft with water system issues will operate as scheduled with ample additional bottled water boarded to facilitate handwashing. If you are operating a flight with a temporary water system issue, thank you for ensuring the additional bottled water boarded by our Caterers for handwashing purposes is readily available to you and that ample sanitizing wipes are available in the lavatories and elsewhere as needed as a secondary protective measure. AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR YOU FROM OUR OWN CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER “I would like to reassure you that Public Health has not notified us of any coronavirus infection originating on any of our flights nor had any concerns with any passengers on our flights to date. It’s important that everyone understand that were a positive coronavirus diagnosis to be confirmed on a flight, health authorities are required to immediately contact the carrier in question to notify them and initiate contact tracing. They would also request information about our manifest so they could follow up as quickly as possible. I can confirm that we have had no such contact or request from any public health authority, and as such we have no concerns at this point. Furthermore, in the event that an infectious disease were to be identified on one of our flights, we would of course contact anyone at risk and ensure that they received the proper follow up and as a courtesy advise any cabin crew who may have operated those flights although in general, cabin crew are not considered to be at risk for transmission. Our commitment has been to communicate openly and transparently as the coronavirus situation has evolved and I encourage everyone to continue reading the bulletins and FAQs issued by our Safety team to ensure you have the most up-todate factual information.” (Dr. Jim Chung, Chief Medical Officer, Air Canada) STAY UP TO DATE, PLEASE As Dr. Chung says, we’re continuing to issue bulletins as information becomes available so please be sure to monitor globe messages and read The Daily. You can also find all updated bulletins and FAQs on this topic available for review on ACaeronet on the carousel under “Coronavirus Updates.” Please know that we’re fully committed to ensuring a safe cabin environment for all on board while operating our schedule to ensure our customers get to where they need to go. Your patience, understanding and cooperation with these temporary measures are greatly appreciated, as is your ongoing care and class for each other and our customers as we manage through this. Thank you, Anup Anand Managing Director – IFS Operations Excellence