In a first-of-its-kind test, Boeing and the University of Arizona determined that airlines’ current cleaning solutions and technologies effectively destroy the virus that causes COVID-19.  

An analysis of more than 1 billion passengers also shows that it’s almost impossible to catch the virus on an airplane if precautions are taken such as masking, HEPA air filtering, and regular sanitizing with cleaning technologies, Boeing officials said.  

“Since the pandemic began, about 1.3 billion people have flown somewhere within the commercial air transportation system. We can track and verify less than 50 cases of coronavirus transmission during those journeys,” Boeing’s director of marketing, Tom Sanderson, said Wednesday at a virtual press conference. “We know the data tells us that people are not contracting the coronvirus at any significant rate throughout the travel journey.”

First live-virus testing on a passenger plane

The testing and analysis is part of the aerospace company’s Confident Travel Initiative (CTI) to enhance the safety and well-being of passengers, flight staff and ground crews during the pandemic.

“We want to help restore confidence to passengers and the flight crew,” Sanderson said. 

Boeing, which has major operations throughout Arizona including Tucson and Mesa, partnered with the university’s Department of Environmental Sciences to test cleaning technologies for the first time on a live virus on an unboarded plane. 

“While these cleaning solutions had been tested in other environments, an airplane behaves differently. It was critical for us to evaluate and confirm the chemicals and techniques we recommend for our customers’ use are effective and battle-tested,” said Mike Delaney, who leads Boeing’s CTI efforts. “By working with the University of Arizona, we were able to employ their world-renowned expertise in virology to do exactly that.”

Several technologies proved effective 

To carry out the test, a live virus called MS2 was applied to more than 230 high-touch surfaces including seat tray tables, arm rests, seat cushions, stowage bins, and lavatory and galley surfaces. MS2 is harmless to humans but more resistant than COVID-19, also known as SARS-CoV-2. 

Technicians then disinfected the plane through several technologies. Chemical disinfectants were applied through two means: manual wiping and with an electrostatic sprayer that sprays liquid disinfectant. Ultra violet wands that destroy germs and antimicrobial coatings that halt the growth of disease also were used. 

All proved to be effective. 

“We confirmed that the probability of getting infected is close to zero using these techniques,” said UArizona Professor Charles Gerba, widely known as “Dr. Germ,” one of the world’s leading microbiologists and experts on infectious diseases. 

“This study allowed us to test and validate, for the first time, that disinfecting solutions kill SARS-CoV-2 on an airplane,” Gerba said. “It’s important to recognize we’re not only talking about SARS-CoV-2, but also other viruses and microorganisms.” 

HEPA air filters and air flow protect passengers, too

In addition to the disinfectant cleaning, current airplane filtering systems also protect passengers from disease, Sanderson said. 

HEPA air filters remove particles the size of the COVID-19 virus. Airflow within the cabin forces air downward instead of sideways or fore-and-aft and the air exchange rate is high, rolling over every two or three minutes. 

Boeing engineers and the UofArizona researchers said they are continuing to test recommended cleaning methods and technologies to protect travelers and crew including thermal disinfectant, touchless technologies and a self-cleaning lavatory. 

Getting travelers back to the skies safely is the ultimate goal, Sanderson said. 

Boeing is world’s largest aerospace company 

Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading provider of commercial airplanes, defense, space and security systems, and global services. As the top U.S. exporter, the company supports commercial and government customers in more than 150 countries and leverages the talents of a global supplier base.

For more information about the company, go to: .  

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Hawaiian Airlines celebrated its new IT Center in Tempe with a traditional Hawaiian blessing ceremony Monday.

The 15,000-square-foot facility first opened its doors at the Hayden Ferry Lakeside multi-use development at Tempe Town Lake on July 1, 2019.

The formal Hawaiian blessing of the airline’s first tech-centric office space outside of Honolulu was preceded by words from corporate and local leaders.

‘Ohana’ means family

“This is very much a tradition for us,” said Peter Ingram, president and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines. “One of the things that’s really important for us as we branch out to this new facility is to make sure that all of you that have joined our �dz󲹲Բ���know that you are very much a part of the Hawaiian Airlines team.”

Ohana is the Hawaiian word for “family.”

The airline has more than 7,300 employees, about 90 percent of whom work in or around the corporate headquarters in Honolulu, according to Ingram.

Ingram told his Tempe employees he wants them to feel just as comfortable working for Hawaiian Airlines as their counterparts in the Pacific, and “part of that is bringing the tradition of the blessing.”

“I’ve had the pleasure in my going-on-15 years at Hawaiian of being a part of a lot of blessings as we’ve brought in new facilities and new aircraft and started new ventures,” he said.

John Jacobi, senior vice president of information technology (IT) for Hawaiian Airlines, spoke next, remarking about how quickly the office had grown since opening in its current space.

“Now, we’re about 60 strong, so we’ve created ohana of 60 great individuals here,” he said. “And I’ll tell you, every time I come here the energy of this place just gets me fired up, and it’s such a pleasure to be a part of this.”

Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell, also in attendance, said Tempe is a city of choice and that he was glad Hawaiian Airlines chose his city.

“You could have picked anywhere to locate,” he said. “ is the No. 1 job creator and industry, not only in this state but in Maricopa County, so having your IT office here for Hawaiian Airlines really does make sense.”

Ingram credited Mitchell and Kevin Sullivan, executive vice president of sales and client services for the Arizona Commerce Authority, for their help opening the new office.

“As the mayor mentioned, you have choices,” Sullivan said. “The location, the amenities and the accessibility to ASU is tremendous.”

The blessing

Keoni Martin from the Hawaiian Airlines community relations team introduced the formal Hawaiian blessing.

“The first thing in the blessing is the chant, and the one thing I want to recognize is the native people of this place in Arizona and say ‘a���dz�’ to the natives and thank you for your hookipa, your hospitality here on this land,” Martin said.

Martin pointed to a large wooden bowl:

“In the koa bowl, we have water, and we all need water to survive; it sustains life,” he said. “We have Hawaiian salt — paakai — and that’s to preserve: To preserve everything about the blessing, to preserve… all of the mana, or the energy that we’re all sharing with each other today.”

Simple, yet elegant

After the blessing, employees and visitors were led into the IT Center itself — a clean, modern, open workspace with panoramic views of Tempe Town Lake and a cafeteria that looks out across the lake at Papago Park and Camelback Mountain beyond it.

Ingram said the proximity of the offices to reminds him of downtown Honolulu, where the buildings overlook the airport (and the airline’s headquarters) and onlookers can see planes taking off before banking out over the ocean.

He said the idea of an IT office in another state has been a topic of conversation, especially because robust tech talent is difficult to come by in Hawaii, where Hawaiian Airlines is already one of the largest private employers.

“We’ve supplemented that by bringing in a lot of contractors through third-party developers and different service providers,” he said.

But outside contractors are expensive; talented, in-house employees are much more valuable to a company looking to completely modernize and integrate its tech platforms. Ingram and his team decided to finally take the plunge.

“We looked at a lot of things, including livability, access to technology talent, places where there might be some people with airline experience,” he said. “And as we stacked up all of those and started to build a relationship with Arizona State University, the Greater Phoenix area really rose to the top of the list.”

Tempe’s proximity to ASU sealed the deal, and Ingram said he “couldn’t be happier.”

‘The high-tech stuff’

Jacobi said the company needed specific technology talent — “some of the high-tech stuff.”

Hawaiian Airlines has been revamping its customer interfaces to create a better user experience and stay competitive with other airlines.

“Most of it’s been around integrations — getting unlike systems to talk to each other,” Jacobi said. “And then, too, our customer touch points: The mobile, the kiosks, the web, and those kinds of things, to improve the guest experience.”

But the company needed “different ponds to fish in,” according to Ingram.

Jacobi said Hawaiian Airlines hired , an Irish-owned multinational professional services company, to help analyze what city would work best for an IT Center in terms of cost of living, skill sets of workers, local government, community, universities and more — and Tempe rose to the top.

“We get some really good technical talent that are employees instead of contractors,” Jacobi said. “Basically, our development arm and our technical kind of skill sets are going to be located here — developers, testers and stuff like that — the people that interface with the business are going to primarily be in Honolulu.”

Hawaiian [Airlines] culture

Ingram said Hawaiian Airlines has “a strong culture and a tightknit sense of ohana.”

“That is something that we’ve recognized over the last couple of years as we expand and grow and add new people to the organization and expand geographically,” he said.

The company went through an exercise last year to seek out some of its best employees who exemplify the airline at its optimal standards. The findings helped determine the company’s key values, Ingram said.

Moving forward, the company will be focused on four ideals: �����������, which means caring; hookipa, which means hospitality; ��ō�첹��, or togetherness and unity; and ���’o������, which is about striving for excellence.

“The four of those, when we do those, and we’re all focused on that as our core values — I think we’ve got an unstoppable team and we can really do great things together,” Ingram said.

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Business leader Howard Stewart said the concept for his Fly Tucson First initiative was buzzing around in his head for years before he had the chance to share his idea to bolster Tucson’s economy.

Stewart has been president and CEO of for almost 20 years and a dedicated member of the Tucson Metro �鶹��ýӳ�� board of directors since 2012.

“From my understanding, every successful city here in the United States has a successful airport,” Stewart said. “Tucson has an airport that is trying to be successful, but it could certainly be a lot more successful if our residents by and large supported it; but many don’t.”

Stewart was on the Public Affairs Council at the Tucson Metro �鶹��ýӳ�� when he first brought his idea to light. In Stewart’s first meeting, Robert Medler, Tucson �鶹��ýӳ�� vice president of state and federal affairs, asked the new councilmembers for their ideas to boost the region’s economy.

“Nobody had ever asked me that question — what do I think would really help this city?” Stewart said. “The idea was that… we community leaders in particular should that we will fly out of Tucson except under certain circumstances.”

Tucson International Airport (TUS), which originally opened in 1919, was the first municipally-owned airport in the U.S. The nonprofit Tucson Airport Authority (TAA) oversees operations at TUS and Ryan Airfield (RYN), a small general aviation airport about 15 miles west of Tucson.

TUS and RYN contribute $7.4 billion in annual economic impact to Southern Arizona and support 43,062 jobs paying $2.3 billion in wages, according to a by Elliot D. Pollack & Company for TAA.

TUS saw more than 3.4 million total passengers arriving and departing in 2017, according to the report. That number was up to 3.6 million in 2018 and is pacing even higher for 2019, said David Hatfield, senior director of air service development and marketing for TAA.

“As the region’s major commercial airport, most people know what a valuable asset Tucson International Airport is when it comes to travel to and from southern Arizona,” said Bonnie Allin, president and CEO of TAA, in a statement. “This study takes it a step further quantifying how tightly interconnected TAA’s airports are as economic engines that benefit us all in many ways.”

Stewart said it is not uncommon for Tucsonans to drive about 220 miles roundtrip and fly out of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) instead of TUS.

“The last figure I heard is — we lose about a million passengers a year to Sky Harbor,” he said. “You can imagine, if we had a million extra people per year going through Tucson Airport, that there would be a . We’d have a lot more flights… my calculations are about 40 percent more.”

That means increasing the existing 60 flights out of TUS to about 84 flights total, Stewart said.

“Of course, that’s going to require a bigger airport,” he said. “And if nothing else it’s going to require more manpower… more employees, more pilots, more flight attendants, more people servicing the aircraft; and that’s going to create more jobs.”

Currently, TUS does not offer flights to East Coast cities, but that could change, Stewart said. With more flights to and from more places, tourists may be inclined to fly into Tucson more often, he said.

One challenge is that, in order to have more flights, there have to be people interested in taking the trip both ways, he said.

For example, American Airlines offered a direct flight from Tucson to New York City and back, but it did not last; Tucsonans and New Yorkers alike showed limited interest. According to Stewart, Tucsonans do not want to brave East Coast winters, and New Yorkers “don’t particularly” want to visit Arizona during the scorching summer months.

“We have this problem that there’s easily six months a year where we don’t do a very good job of supporting each other’s cities,” Stewart said.

That’s where the pledge comes in. Stewart said he wants business leaders in particular to sign the pledge to fly themselves and their employees out of Tucson whenever possible.

“I’d like every resident to sign it, but a lot of times these are the people who are running companies or large organizations,” he said.

Sun Corridor, an economic development organization representing the metropolitan areas of Southern Arizona, on the business side of things.

“One of the most important pieces of infrastructure for Southern Arizona is the Tucson airport, and while the flying public depends on access to transportation, so do prospective commercial and industrial entities,” said Laura Shaw, senior vice president at Sun Corridor. “Our efforts in that area include a partnership that expands the airport’s assets, really trying to build up more commercial development and help plan for proper land use around the airport for the next five to 10 years.”

The partnership is currently under a three-year contract in which TUS has outsourced its economic development to Sun Corridor. When a company is looking to establish itself or expand near an airport in Southern Arizona, Sun Corridor plays both promoter and broker, pointing a spotlight at the region’s assets.

“The airport has a lot of unique assets here that are really great for business,” Shaw said. “There are probably about 800 to 1,000 developable acres around the airport that the airport’s looking at, and we’re looking at, to help them figure out how to utilize that acreage, how to make them shovel-ready and really ready for business.”

TUS is surrounded by employers, including — one of the state’s largest private-sector employers — as well as Bombardier and Ascent Aviation. There are smaller manufacturers, MROs (maintenance, repair and operations services) and fixed-base operators (FBOs) around the airport. FedEx, HomeGoods, Target and Amazon have large distribution centers near TUS.

“It’s got direct access, sitting right between two major highway systems, I-10 and I-19,” Shaw said. “It’s the only Arizona airport with 24/7 CBP () air cargo handling, so that’s a big benefit as well. And there’s no real property tax for tenants because of how the airport is structured.”

Additionally, the , a full-service inland port, rail yard and intermodal facility, is about a 15 minute drive from TUS.

“The more businesses and individuals… [that] can fly out of Tucson, the more flights we’ll get,” Shaw said. “It’s the same thing with us and economic development — the more companies we can attract, the more talent we can attract, and vice-versa. So, the more people that fly out of Tucson and don’t drive up to Phoenix really helps to build up the flights here, which will in turn help us to attract more businesses that know that they can fly in and out easily.”

Stewart said the Fly Tucson First initiative reminded him of something Ben Franklin supposedly said at the signing of the Declaration of Independence: “We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

“If we don’t do all this collectively — if we don’t all agree to do this — we’re screwing ourselves individually, whether we think we’re helping ourselves or not,” Stewart said.

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