By Marlene Lenthang For Dailymail.com

Published: 09:32 EDT, 5 August 2020 | Updated: 22:12 EDT, 5 August 2020

Southwest Airlines is scaling back on COVID-19 cleaning measures and will no longer sanitize seat belts in between flights to speed up turnaround time in between trips.

Starting August 1 Southwest stopped wiping down arm rests and seat belts as well as areas around occupied seats.

However, 'high touch' areas including tray tables and lavatories will be disinfected before each takeoff, the company said Monday. Deep cleanings, which take six to seven hours a plane, will continue overnight.

'As our flight schedule evolves, we are returning to standard turnaround time,' a Southwest Airlines memo to flight attendants obtained by CNN said.

The move to cut back on aircraft-cleaning measures was designed to speed up turnaround operations in between flights, which averaged about 47 minutes in March and is now 50 minutes.

Southwest Airlines is scaling back on COVID-19 cleaning measures and will no longer sanitize seat belts or arm rests in between flights to speed up turnaround time in between trips. File image of man in protective suit disinfecting an airplane

The airline used an EPA approved, hospital-grade disinfectant in the lavatories and an interior cleaner in the cabin.

Tray tables and seats were cleaned after long-haul flights but not typically between turns on short flights. 

Starting in March due to pandemic:  

Hospital-grade disinfectant is used throughout the aircraft.

Under a new enhanced cleaning program 'interior windows and shades, every seat belt buckle, passenger service units (including the touch buttons that control reading lights and vents that direct personal air), as well as seat surfaces, tray tables, and armrests' are cleaned between trips.

Planes undergo six to seven hour overnight cleanings per plane.

Each plane also undergoes a 'deep' electrostatic cleaning once a month, a procedure that kills viruses for 30 days. 

All aircraft are equipped with HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filters, which filter out airborne particles as the air onboard is recirculated with outside air, and are often used in hospitals.

Middle seats are left open and passengers board in groups of 10 to maintain social distancing. 

Minimizing the time planes spend on the ground between flights is a key part of Southwest’s lower-cost business model.

The airline reduced the standard 60-minute turnaround to just 10 minutes in the 1970s, boosting profits, according to The Verge.  

In 2019 during peak travel season Southwest operated more than 4,000 flights a day. 

Southwest spokeswoman Ro Hawthorn said the crews would conduct a more thorough cleaning process at least once a day.

Each plane also undergoes a 'deep' electrostatic cleaning once a month, a procedure that kills viruses for 30 days.

'Since flight schedules have increased, other areas of the aircraft will be disinfected during our overnight cleaning process, when Southwest Teams spend six to seven hours per aircraft cleaning all interior surfaces,' Hawthorne said.

Passengers can also ask for sanitizing wipes if they want to clean other surfaces amid the pandemic.

In March Southwest, based in Dallas, announced an enhanced cleaning program that mandated 'interior windows and shades, every seat belt buckle, passenger service units (including the touch buttons that control reading lights and vents that direct personal air), as well as seat surfaces, tray tables, [and] armrests' were cleaned.

The airline says it will limit plane capacity through October 31 enough for middle seats to be empty during trips.

The unions says flight attendants will monitor the situation while urging the company to ensure the public 'feel comfortable flying again.'

'Southwest has been ahead of the industry in a lot of ways including electrostatic spraying, overnight deep cleaning and most recently requiring all passengers to wear face coverings with no exemptions,' Thom McDaniel, a representative with the Transport Workers Union said.

'We will monitor this change and continue to advocate for best practices at every carrier for the safest possible air travel.'

The airline also recently announced that they will test out thermal cameras at select airports to check passengers' temperatures prior to boarding. 

Delta, American, United are also using electrostatic sprayers with differing frequency. 

Delta disinfects and cleans each aircraft after every flight.

United Airlines deploys electrostatic spraying before 'most flights' and each plane undergoes deep cleanings for six to seven hours every night.

American Airlines said the airline disinfects high-touch surfaces at every turnaround with a solution similar to what competitors use. 

It also uses electrostatic fogging with a disinfectant the airline claims provides seven days of protection against COVID-19, according to the New York Times.

The move to cut back on aircraft-cleaning measures was designed to speed up turnaround operations in between flights, which averaged about 47 minutes in March and is now 50 minutes

A Florida businessman who has flown 33 times and spent 160 nights in hotels this year has revealed his coronavirus safety regime which includes wearing multiple layers of gloves and changing his mask every time he uses the bathroom.

Mika Manninen, CEO and co-founder of dairy-free yogurt brand Hälsa Foods, said he has been following a strict routine while traveling for work in order to keep him safe from contracting the virus.  

As well as following quarantine rules 'to the hilt', the essential worker explained how his regime covers each step of the traveling process from the airport to the airplane, to staying at a hotel and hiring a rental car.  

'It would be insane not to be afraid,' Manninen, a Finnish native who now lives in Palm Beach, told CNBC.  

Florida businessman Mika Manninen who has flown 33 times and spent 160 nights in hotels this year has revealed his coronavirus safety regime which includes wearing multiple layers of gloves and changing his mask every time he uses the bathroom

Manninen has spent just nine days in his own home since March - when most people hunkered down under stay-at-home orders - instead jetting to cities around the US including Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Seattle, as well as making four trips abroad to London and Helsinki.

The businessman credits his virus-free status to date to his meticulous routine that includes avoiding buying anything in airports, wearing a collared shirt to limit his skin exposure on airplanes and cleaning all surfaces in his hotel rooms and rental cars before using them.  

Manninen's routine begins at the airport where he wears multiple layers of disposable gloves and removes a layer each time he touches a new surface. 

'When I enter the airport, I wear multiple layers of disposable gloves, and I peel them off as I go through it. Trams, escalators - peel a layer, check-in, use a kiosk with a touch screen - peel a layer, TSA security check - peel a layer,' he told CNBC.

'I did not realize how many surfaces I actually touch until I started paying attention to it.' 

The businessman also uses a paper ticket instead of a phone app to avoid his cellphone coming into contact with surfaces. 

The CEO also avoids buying any food and drink in the airport.  

'Do not buy anything: no food and no drinks,' he told CNBC.

'If you buy water, wipe the bottle with antiseptic wipes.' 

Manninen said he keeps his distance from fellow travelers by sitting 'in the corner alone' and finding a non-crowded bathroom in the airport. 

'I swap my mask every time I use a bathroom,' he added.  

The businessman, who has spent around 75 percent of 2020 on the road, said he is less concerned about airplanes because aircraft cabins undergo a 'total change' of air between 20 to 30 times per hour and up to 50 percent of cabin air is recycled trapping bacteria, fungi and viruses - but the airport 'is a different story'.  

That said he also has a strict protocol for once he boards a flight including avoiding the bathroom in the aircraft and covering up as much of his skin as possible.  

'I expose the least amount of skin as possible. Funny, the only time I wear collared shirts is on the airplane, just to cover my neck,' he told CNBC.

'I don't let my skin touch any surfaces.' 

When he boards the aircraft, Manninen said he wipes all surfaces at his seat, including the seat belt, belt buckle, headrest, window shades and the air and light adjusters above the seat. 

He also said he changes his mask every four hours. 

'It's safer and oddly gives you a feeling of freshening up,' he said.    

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