WFP Aviation staff on the frontline of the COVID-19 emergency response

At the beginning of 2020, the world we used to know has stopped, with more or less everything coming to a standstill. What happened? Around 200 days ago, a microbe started to sicken some humans, then replicating so fast that it raced into our interconnected world in a matter of weeks. In the beginning, no one would have ever thought that the biggest threat to our times after World War II would have come in the form of a germ. However, this is a real story: the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV2, spawned a pandemic, and changed history. The twenty-first century’s advanced technology resulting from humans’ capability and their signs of progress in science had built a global village. We used to live in a world where time and distances no longer mattered. The air travel industry is among the hardest hit. The technological revolution that made travel easy and affordable had to step back to halt the spread of the virus. Data change as quickly as the infection spreads, however according to the International Civil Aviation Authority, COVID-19 impact on the world’s air passenger traffic in 2020 would cause a reduction of almost 3,000 million global passengers with an approximate loss of US$391 billion for airlines. The drastic declines in numbers represent not only an extremely worrying effect on the world’s economy but especially a dramatic scenario for the humanitarian ecosystem. Millions of people cannot be reached with life-saving support if humanitarian workers are stuck and cannot travel. Thousands of sick people, including COVID-19 patients, cannot be cured if they are stranded in isolated places with inadequate medical facilities and without the presence of doctors. The world has called upon the United Nations World Food Programme to respond immediately and put in place its logistics resources and expertise.

The aviation arm of WFP quickly designed and implemented a response plan to overcome these challenges and to ensure global passengers from UN agencies, NGOs, and diplomats could reach the destinations in the world where they are most needed. A global team of WFP staff made this possible. They are based in several locations from Rome to Kuala Lumpur, Johannesburg, Addis Ababa, to name a few. They speak many different languages, and they are tirelessly taking up multiple tasks, including coordinating cargo and passenger flights, dealing with national authorities to obtain permission to land, managing agreements with commercial airlines, offering customer service to passengers and stakeholders, developing IT services. The WFP Global Passenger Service has become a reality since 1 May, the date marking the first flight from Addis Ababa to Accra. The service hit over 8,000 passengers transported from six different hubs in Africa (Accra, Addis Ababa and Johannesburg), in the Middle East (Sharjah) in Asia (Kuala Lumpur) and in Europe (Rome). Today, it continues to be the only opportunity for humanitarian travelers to move around the COVID-19 affected world. Many staff made sacrifices to be on the frontline.

Addis, George, Kanthum, Roberta, Sangara. What do they have in common? They are all part of the WFP Aviation family and they all, at the height of the coronavirus emergency, played a vital role in the response. Do you want to know how?

Kanthum has a total of 19 years’ experience in aviation, with four of them spent flying with WFP’s operations. She put her unique aviation skills and pilot experience at the WFP humanitarian air hub service in Johannesburg, assisting with the emergency response. “This experience adds a lot more value than I thought was possible, especially trying and get through the barriers imposed in South Africa with its stringent lockdown. At this time, there are still no international passenger flights allowed in South Africa aside from WFP”, says Kanthum. Through her role, she helped many people stranded for months away from their families and loved ones to get home. “There was a gentleman in Madagascar that has not seen his new-born baby in Norway. Even if passengers are stressed, they are always grateful and patient. I received a huge thank you from a passenger from the World Bank who couldn’t make the first flight out of Maputo due to a cancellation. He flew out the next week and called me to tell me he felt so special like he flew on Air Force One.” Kanthum has coordinated the rollout of the southern African flights with the help of a small team. She highlighted a crucial aspect of the coordination: how technology provides support for all teams on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Tech is at the forefront of all communication. We have many WhatsApp groups set up with our service providers and the outstation Country Offices as well. We use Teams and Zoom meeting platforms. And of course, the good old mobile when an immediate response is needed.”

Roberta started her career with the Italian Government and specifically with the Ministry of Tourism in Rome. Before joining WFP, she worked in Lusaka, Zambia, for an IFAD-funded project on agribusiness promotion among smallholder farmers as a knowledge management specialist and in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, working for the African Development Bank (AfDB). She is currently leading the customer service team of the WFP Global Passenger Service in support of the COVID-19 emergency response. Her team’s role is crucial as it is the first point of

interaction of all registered agencies using the service daily. We are talking about almost 500 agencies. They are mostly expert check-in agents previously working for major global airlines like Alitalia. To date, Roberta and the team have managed the bookings of over 7,500 passengers and have successfully responded to thousands of queries at any given time. “My sleeping hours and the available time to spend with my family have drastically changed due to the intensive nature of this assignment, but I enjoy what I do. I know very well that people out there depend on the service that we provide. The world is at stake, and I am happy to continue to sacrifice my free time to ensure that families are reunited.” Her team’s physical distance is a challenge, as most commercial airlines have their customer service staff located in one space. “We solely depend on online platforms, especially WhatsApp, to communicate among ourselves. It was critical to have a tech tool like this to communicate fast in these times.” Roberta’s mission is to provide the best customer service experience possible to passengers. They are often facing difficult situations, as they are far from their families or have lost a loved one back home; or are trying to get back to their duty stations to continue their assignments. “All of them are given the same priority as our services are provided on a first-come, first-serve basis, and every single passenger served by WFP despite the multiple challenges is a success to this project.” Says Roberta.

Sangara is a veteran of aviation, with 25 years of experience working for commercial airlines and eight years for WFP Aviation. He is currently in Kuala Lumpur, supporting the Asia Pacific region air passenger service in response to COVID-19. His role covers many tasks, from providing air service support and customer care to flight planning and coordination with partners and stakeholders, including commercial airlines and ensuring that critical medical supplies are dispatched to the various destinations in the region. Sangara was on the front line of other emergencies during his career with WFP, including the Ebola emergency, the Nepal earthquake response, missions to Somalia and Nigeria, and the Mozambique cyclone Idai response. “Since I am a Malaysian national, it is a privilege for me to have set up a humanitarian hub in my country and helped dealing with national government and airport authorities. However, it was not an easy task given the stringent measures imposed and the lockdown.” Says Sangara. He mediated among some global major commercial airlines like Qatar Airways, KLM, Japan Airlines, Emirates, and All Nippon Airways to request their support in allowing passengers to reach Kuala Lumpur and connect with WFP’s charter flights to Yangon, Vientiane, Kathmandu, and Dili. “I have been working 24/7 providing customer support and coordination.” He explains. Many passengers have shared their gratitude to Sangara about the usefulness of the services provided and the continued support offered throughout the process. Here is a statement from a passenger from ICRC: “I express my sincere gratitude for all your help! I have developed an enormous sense of appreciation for all your efforts, especially bearing in mind that COVID-19 made things even more complicated, with many of you working remotely. When I saw the excellent coordination between you, I let my family know how much I respect you. I just wanted to hug you all, even despite social distancing.”

Addis has been working for the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) in Ethiopia for the last nine years, first as an Air Movement Assistant in Dollo Ado, and then as an Aviation Assistant in the Addis Ababa main base. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Addis’s work has been crucial in setting up the humanitarian air hub, to curb the effects of the disease with the rapid air transport of passengers and vital medical cargo. “While I consider myself lucky to have been placed in a position to contribute to the global fight against the virus, I also believe It has, in turn, contributed to my professional development,” says Addis. When asked about the challenges he had to face during the response, Addis replies: “one of the problematic aspects is getting flight permits to transport passengers and cargo to some countries. Due to the closure of the airspace under COVID-19 restrictions and as a result of declared states of emergency, several of our destinations require extensive efforts to secure the authorizations, culminating in an extremely hectic daily workload. However, I am so proud of WFP’s operational flexibility, adaptability and capability to respond to logistical challenges and demands of such magnitude.” Addis had not only offered operational capabilities in response to the crisis but also supported all customer service activities. These tasks are paramount in the aviation context and particularly under the pressure of transporting frontline professionals, including doctors and humanitarian actors, that depend on the service to reach the destinations where they are most needed. Addis explains that offering them an impeccable service is crucial considering all the mental strain and physical hardship they are going through because of the complicated travel arrangements, long connections, mandatory quarantine, unanticipated delays, and cancellations. “The expression of joy on passengers’ faces, finally landing home says more than words and keeps the team motivated to do more and even better.” Addis explains.

George is an Aviation Officer with WFP who has moved to Ghana in April from his duty station to set up and coordinate the Accra humanitarian air hub. Almost 50% of all flights operated by the WFP Global Passenger Service depart from this hub, which has reached a milestone of 1,000 passengers in only a month. George is at the airport 24/7, assisting passengers and monitoring all processes from check-in to boarding. He creates a unique synergy with passengers, carefully listening and answering their questions and directing them through the various procedures.