AmSafe has conducted a survey in which 88% of air travellers indicated that an airline’s efforts and commitment to minimising exposure to bacteria, viruses, microbes and pathogens is important, and 65% indicated that they are concerned with being in contact with seats and seat belts. In response the company has engineered, tested and produced a sanitised seatbelt that it claims demonstrates a 99.9% reduction in viral/bacterial load.
Bill Gehret, AmSafe’s VP of sales stated, “In our research we are seeing that passenger expectations about cleanliness have changed. Passengers are also, in many cases, willing to change their preferences for an environment that gives them additional health safety benefits. In fact, our research has shown that 74% would be more likely to book a flight with that airline that has sanitised seatbelts versus one that did not.”
A key technology in the sanitised seatbelts is embedded silver-ions, which the company says can provide over two years of protection for passengers, with a 93% reduction in bacteria in the first 10 minutes of exposure. AmSafe has tested this new product at high usage cycles to verify its longevity, tolerance to cleaning with alcohol disinfectants, and compliance to TSO C22G and TSO C114 requirements.
The seatbelts are easy for airlines to adopt, as they can maintain the same base part number as the original AmSafe restraint, allowing airlines to treat the change from a standard seatbelt to a sanitised seatbelt the same as merely changing the colour.
The AmSafe Sanitized Restraint is available in polyester or nylon and in any colour. Operator-specified custom options such as identifying tags or buckles are also available.
