Tapis
In case you hadn ’ t heard , airlines worldwide are strapped for cash right now .
The message is “ We don ’ t need a knee-jerk fix ,” said Matthew Nicholls , the sales director for Tapis . “ We don ’ t want to spend a million bucks and have it be obsolete in 12 months ; we ’ d rather spend two million and have it last for 10 years .”
Tapis , with its Promessa ® by Ultrafabrics ®, may have one of those solutions , he said .
The fabric , which is manufactured in Japan , is embedded with silver ions that have proven effective at inhibiting the growth of bacteria and viruses other than COVID-19 . “ Silver ions bond to the protein in a cell to inhibit replication ,” he explained . “ It ’ s like basically turning the microorganism off .”
While the company is still waiting on results of testing against COVID-19 — Nicholls said he hoped the results would be verified in early fall — airlines already are using the fabric in planes flying today .
American Airlines , for example , already has ordered seats with the fabric for its newest 787s . LOT Polish Airlines has placed a major order , and Nicolls said he expects customers will announce several others before year ’ s end .
“ There ’ s a lot of momentum behind it ,” he said .
He said Tapis is spending a lot of time helping airlines and OEMs figure out creative solutions to the issue of keeping jet cabins germ-free . “ The one thing that ’ s really , really nice is the amount of cross-industry cooperation ,” Nicholls said . “ It ’ s really , really awesome .”
OCTOBER | NOVEMBER 2020 ISSUE NO . 17 15