‘Worried, but work comes first’: Flight attendants return to duty as domestic air services resume in fourth phase of coronavirus lockdown

New Delhi: Flight attendants on early Monday morning arrived at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, Terminal-3, as domestic air services resumed from today. [caption id=“attachment_8012311” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. News18[/caption] “We are a little worried but work comes first. We will get Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits from the airline,” Amandeep Kaur, a flight attendant, told ANI. Another flight attendant said that they have to do less interaction with passengers now in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. Food and beverage and retail outlets opened at the airport as domestic flight services resumed. Domestic flight operations resumed across the country from today except in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal after two months of suspension due to coronavirus-induced lockdown. All scheduled commercial passenger flights were suspended in India since 25 March when the Centre imposed a lockdown to contain the virus. Following the announcement of domestic flights resumption, the Airports Authority of India on Thursday issued (SOP) for airports as part of preparations for the recommencement of domestic commercial flight operations. According to the SOPs, airports have been advised to ensure that passenger seating arrangement shall be done in such a manner so as to maintain social distancing among passengers using chairs by blocking those seats that are not to be used, with proper markers/tapes. All passengers also must compulsorily be registered with the Aarogya Setu app on their phones as per the directives. Apart from this, alternate check-in counters should be used to avoid congestion. The airport staff must be provided PPE kits, face masks etc, and should also be provided with hand sanitisers.