Delta Air Lines is investing again in hygiene measures onboard its aircraft. From mid-November, Delta Air Lines is working on adding antimicrobial LED lighting in the airline’s lavatories onboard Boeing 757s through early 2021.
The new lavatory installations
Starting in mid-November, Delta Air Lines is adding Vyv antimicrobial LED lighting onboard its Boeing 757-200 lavatories. The installations will continue through early 2021.
Vyv, which was formerly known as Vital Vio, and Delta launched a partnership at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier this year.
The lights will be installed above the lavatory sinks and countertops. These are some high-touch areas onboard an aircraft.
Bill Lentsch, Chief Customer Experience Officer, stated the following:
“Innovation is central to everything we do at Delta. Our partnership with Vyv shows how we are adapting the vision we showcased at CES to double-down on our commitment to customer health and safety. This technology will provide another of the many layers we’ve put in place that, when working together, keep customers safe. For Delta, there’s no more important goal for applied innovation.”
What do you need to know about these lights?
First off, these lights are non-UV lights. They are LED visible spectrum lights that provide high-quality illumination. This is deadly to bacteria but is safe for humans and animals.
Passengers might not know right away their aircraft has these lights onboard. However, there will be a placard in lavatories that have Vyv antimicrobial LED lighting.
What is the rollout plan?
From mid-November, starting with the Boeing 757-200 fleet, Delta will be installing aircraft with antimicrobial lights. The airline will conduct tests with the product in 2021 before considering expanding its installation in the future.
Delta has not yet indicated if there is a targeted date that it wants the product installed across its entire fleet. It seems that the airline wants to focus on testing and ensuring the product’s success before investing in putting it onboard more aircraft.
After the Boeing 757s, it would not be surprising to see Delta put it onboard more aircraft that fly long-haul routes like the Airbus A330s or A350s. Short-haul aircraft, like the Boeing 737s, would also likely be up on that list. It is unclear if Delta would want to expand this product to its regional fleet.
Does this mean Delta is keeping the 757s longer?
This is not the first upgrade Delta is adding to its Boeing 757s. Back at the end of August, Delta announced the 757s would be the first to receive hand sanitizer stations onboard aircraft.
These upgrades are not necessarily intensive retrofits but rather quick updates that can be done if an aircraft is on the ground overnight. These also do not seem to be costly upgrades, and Delta likely got a good deal on the products.
All of this combined shows, instead, the near-term importance of these aircraft. Delta will likely get a lot of data from the tests with Vyv, and it seems these planes would provide the best data. They also operate a mix of flights, ranging from premium transcontinental flights to longer international flights to short-haul flights.
Do you think this is a good idea? Are you looking forward to flying a plane with antimicrobial LED lighting? Let us know in the comments!