British cut-price carrier easyJet, based in London’s Luton Airport, has launched a ‘Europe with Confidence Pledge’ which will see its passengers and crew take to the air in masks to “look out for your wellbeing, reaffirm our commitment on sustainability, and continue to offer great value”.
easyJet’s chief executive Johan Lundgren wrote to customers yesterday saying:
“As you’ll have seen over the past few months, Europe and the rest of the world have worked together to keep one another safe. Thanks to the incredible efforts of millions, the continent is slowly beginning to reopen.
“At easyJet, we know Europe better than anyone else. We’ve been connecting people and places for over 25 years, and we’re always committed to helping you feel safe to travel on our flights and holiday packages.
“That’s why today, in light of Covid-19, we’re launching our ‘Europe with Confidence Pledge’. A promise to you, our customers, that we’ll look out for your wellbeing, reaffirm our commitment on sustainability, and continue to offer great value.”
On 30 March 2020, easyJet suspended all its flights, grounded its entire fleet, and furloughed its crews due to travel restrictions imposed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. This came after the company had flown 650 “rescue flights”, taking 45,000 people back home.
In April 2020, easyJet secured a GBP 600 million “coronavirus crisis” loan from the British Government, reportedly with no environmental conditions attached.
Then, last month, the company revealed that it had been the subject of a cyber-attack resulting in the release of the personal information of 9 million customers.
The airline is now concentrating on safety, sustainability, wellbeing and value, as Lundgren’s statement makes clear, as below:
WELLBEING
As always, your safety and wellbeing is our utmost priority, so we’re going to be introducing new measures to help keep you safe. Our teams will be conducting additional deep cleaning and disinfection of our aircraft every day, and all of our passengers and crew will be required to wear masks at all times.
In addition, as we start up, we’ll be distributing passengers across the aircraft where possible, and we’ll be removing our onboard Bistro service for the time being.
We’re introducing all of these measures to help keep you safe, and everything we’re doing is based on the latest government, EASA and ICAO Public Health guidance. Of course, all our aircraft are equipped with industry-leading filtration systems to keep the air you breathe in the cabin as clean as possible. These filters are the same as those used in hospitals and through them the cabin air gets replaced every 3-4 minutes. You can find out a little more about our measures here.
SUSTAINABILITY
Even though the way we operate will look different for a while, we will not be compromising on the promises we have made around the environment. We recognise that we have a responsibility to minimise the impact of our flights and are focused on operating efficiently now, and on the development of electric aircraft in the future. In the interim, we continue to offset the carbon emissions from the fuel used for all of our flights on behalf of our customers, and we’re proud to be the first major airline in the world to do so.
VALUE
We believe everyone should have the opportunity to travel, so for years we’ve been proud to offer our customers great value fares. And as people begin to reconnect with destinations they’ve missed, we promise to continue that commitment.
As ever, booking early tends to give you better prices. However, we do understand booking right now may feel uncertain, so we’d like to give you peace of mind when you do. You’ll be able to switch your flights up to 14 days before departure without a change fee for as long as travel restrictions remain.
Plus, all our easyJet holiday packages remain ATOL protected, and if the authorities happen to halt travel to your destination before your flight, we’ll inform you as soon as we can with the next steps.
It’s in our nature to travel. And while travelling as you used to may feel a little different for a while, rest assured that we’re doing absolutely everything that we can to let you explore Europe with confidence.
Edited by Peter Needham
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