Approximately 100 planes landed at the Roswell International Air Center in the last week and a half, according to Mark Bleth, Air Center Manager and Deputy Director for Roswell International Air Center.
Bleth said the planes, operated by American Airlines, are cleaned upon arrival to impede the spread of COVID-19, but it is up to the airlines to take appropriate precautionary cleaning measures before the planes arrive in Roswell.
"Some of them are coming from overseas and stopping in Miami or Newark (New Jersey)," Bleth said.
"Those most likely were taken care of before a crew went into them."
American Airlines, on its website, said its working to enact social distancing on board, limiting food and drink service until the pandemic is under control.
Meanwhile, the Roswell Air Center operated under normal hours and conditions without significant changes made in response to COVID-19, Bleth said.
On March 27, the City of Roswell Facebook page posted that airlines in North America were reducing passenger operations to skeletal levels.
"This reduction has not affected Roswell Air Center yet, but the situation is very fluid with new information emerging every day. It is important to note that much of this operational reduction is taking place near departure time with only a portion showing in advanced published schedules. Travelers are encouraged to check often with their airline to determine flight status," the post states.
As of March 30, there were 10 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in Chaves County, according to the New Mexico Department of Health.
The Air Center offered service in 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. shifts and lunch hours of operation.
The City of Roswell partners with the Roswell Air Center to maintain the Air Center.
"We're part of the City of Roswell out here at the Air Center," Bleth said. "We've changed in accordance with the rest of City operations that engage with the public but our terminal is still open the same number of hours and there is still the same number of flights, so nothing else has changed other than our office hours."
Bleth said the facility maintenance department manages cleaning the Air Center.
"Facility maintenance has been bringing out extra people and doing extra things," Bleth said. "Cleaning the surface areas after a flight leaves, there's people sitting around in the waiting areas, so once that group clears and goes, they get cleaned up after."
The City provided a web page dedicated to COVID-19 resources for area residents, where it notes protocols to keep passengers and employees safe.
"The Air Center is a wholly owned subsidiary or department of the City," said Roswell City Mayor Dennis Kintigh. "It's a City asset and those are City employees, the Air Center director, the custodial staff, all work for the City Manager."
Kintigh said on Friday, custodial staff that formerly maintained Roswell City Hall completed a deep clean of the floors in the terminal building.
Kintigh reiterated that the airlines are responsible for cleaning planes brought to Roswell.
"And then once they are here, it's not like they are accessible to anybody other than airline personnel," Kintigh said.
Kintigh said the City contracted with Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MROs) to perform maintenance on the planes.
"So once the planes are parked here, nobody goes in them except for the MRO folks and like I said they are cleaned before they are even brought here," Kintigh said.
"They are taken care of, they have to be because the objective is that most will go back in service at some point."
Cristina Carreon can be reached at [email protected], 575-437-7120 or on Twitter @Cris_carreon90.
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