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COVID Clean Program Helps HAI Members Promote Safe Operations

VAI at Work

3 Minutes

Many aspects of our prepandemic lives, such as shaking hands or drinking from public water fountains, may never return, and there can be confusion about what activities are OK. To help its members reassure the public about their commitment to safe practices, HAI has introduced the COVID Clean Program.

The program helps HAI members—particularly those who carry passengers—demonstrate their efforts to protect customers and employees from the COVID-19 virus and other infectious diseases. HAI assists participating companies by providing them with tools to promote their efforts at their locations, on their websites, in local media, and in social media and other digital channels.

Participating companies must agree to a set of recommended COVID cleaning standards and policies (see the pledge language below). “Most of our members were already taking these steps to protect themselves and their customers,” says James A. Viola, president and CEO of HAI. “Committing to the COVID Clean Pledge provides these operators with the tools to demonstrate their commitment to the health and safety of passengers and crew in a visible and reassuring way.

“Tour, charter, and air ambulance operations are the likeliest users of this program,” continues Viola, “but it has value for any company that interacts with the public. In our new normal, making a public commitment to protect customers and employees is a standard expectation. The more quickly we can build public confidence in our high standards, the more quickly our industry can return to pre­pandemic operational levels.”

HAI members can visit rotor.org/COVIIDCLEAN to take the COVID Clean Pledge. Below are participating HAI members as of late July:

HAI COVID Clean Pledge

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.