Etihad Airways established four projects prior to fleet grounding in Mar-2020: CEO

Etihad Airways CEO Tony Douglas, via the company's official Spotify account, stated (28-Sep-2020) the carrier "established four specific projects" prior to grounding its fleet in Mar-2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Project Restart" was the first project, which is a "very structured programme" that enables the carrier to "put our aircraft back into the sky", as it is "a lot more difficult restarting an airline than parking one down". The second project was "Project Cabin", which was an opportunity to "undertake what has been the biggest and costliest maintenance exercise in the history of Etihad". He explained: "We went about the interiors of our cabins in a way which was almost obsessive when it comes to detail". The third project was focused "around cargo", whereby the carrier created a "mini network" with its Boeing 787s to offer humanitarian aid. The final project was entitled "Project Vision", through which the carrier sought to forecast "what would the travelling public want more of as a fundamental requirement post COVID". He noted the carrier has since "redesigned our product, such that it is contactless from a physical point of view", and offers "almost surgical standards of hygiene".