Are You Sitting Comfortably?

SUMMER 2018

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IATA GROUND HANDLING CABIN REPAIR: REGIONAL REPORTS: DIGITALISATION: CONFERENCE 2018 ARE YOU SITTING AFRICA AND EUROPE CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY HEADS TO DOHA COMFORTABLY? IN THE SPOTLIGHT AND SHADOW IT

00 Cover AGS-SUM18.indd 1 28/03/2018 11:59 Delivering excellence worldwide

Discover an award-winning, premier ground handling organisation based out of Hamad International Airport (HIA), the hub of Qatar Airways. From passenger services to baggage operations and ground handling, QAS is at the forefront of innovation, quality and operational excellence.

Visit qataraviation.com email [email protected] EDITOR’S LETTER | SUMMER 2018

LETTER FROM SUMMER 2018 THE EDITOR

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IATA GROUND HANDLING CABIN REPAIR: REGIONAL REPORTS: DIGITALISATION: CONFERENCE 2018 ARE YOU SITTING AFRICA AND EUROPE CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY HEADS TO DOHA COMFORTABLY? IN THE SPOTLIGHT AND SHADOW IT

ello and welcome to the Summer 2018 edition of Airline JAMES SHERIDAN Ground Services. Chairman [email protected] This issue went to press in the run-up to the 31st IATA Ground Handling Conference, taking place in PARVEEN RAJA Publisher Doha on 22-25 April. The association’s Ground Ops [email protected] Hteam gives us a flavour of what to expect from the gathering – and we JUSTIN BURNS bring you interviews from co-hosts Qatar Airways and Qatar Aviation Associate Editor Services. [email protected] We also cover the impending entry into force of IATA’s Resolution TOM WILLIS 753 on baggage tracking. Will the industry be ready in time? News Editor Our regional round-ups for Summer focus on Africa, a market [email protected] with huge potential that continues to be plagued with considerable HARLEY KHAN challenges, and Europe, where ground handlers face tight margins Head of Commercial [email protected] and are investing heavily to survive. German handler AeroGround gives a particular insight into SOHAIL AHMAD Conference Sales that market while, many miles away, Malaysia’s Pos Aviation has [email protected] ambitious plans. GEMMA KEEN Another topic in this issue is centralised load control, which we Events Coordinator consider alongside IATA’s initiative to develop a common Weight & [email protected] Balance Information Centre. SHOBHANA PATEL Readers will also find articles on the importance of ensuring Head of Finance a pleasing aircraft cabin environment; developments in line [email protected] maintenance; the demands of first-class travellers when it comes to SHELDON PINK luxury lounges; and how to handle misconnected passengers – as well Creative Director [email protected] as disruptive ones. Finally, we take a look at the place of digital collaboration and Address changes and subscription orders to: consumer technology in today’s ground handling sector. [email protected] ISSN 2040-476X Happy reading! Q EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS Chris Lewis, David Smith and Martin Courtney

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www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com SUMMER 2018 Airline Ground Services 1

01 Eds Letter.indd 1 03/04/2018 10:32 CONTENTS | SUMMER 2018

4 CONTENTS

4 Setting the pace QAS’s dynamic approach 8 Seamless connections The importance of customer service at Qatar Airways 10 Forward thinking IGHC 2018 considers the future of interconnected aviation 12 Under pressure European handlers invest to survive 16 A long way to go Africa has potential, but faces a toxic mix of challenges, says David Smith 20 Finding a balance AeroGround and the German ground handling market 22 Pushing the boundaries An interview with Woo Kam Weng, CEO of Pos Aviation 24 First impressions count Chris Lewis discovers just how much 30 Complex calculations The beneﬁ ts of centralised load control 20 32 Great expectations How lounges cater for today’s ﬁ rst-class travellers 46 38 Ready or not IATA Resolution 753 is almost here 40 Better interaction Martin Courtney considers digital collaboration and consumer technology 46 Blazing a trail How to handle disruptive passengers 48 Broadening horizons Demand for outsourced line maintenance on the rise 52 Satisfaction Managing misconnected passengers 55 Industry update

2 Airline Ground Services Summer 2018 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com

02-03 Contents.indd 2 03/04/2018 10:35 /AeroGround Your experts in ground handling at Munich, Berlin-Tegel and Berlin-Schönefeld Airports.

Living ideas – Connecting lives

02-03 Contents.indd 3 03/04/2018 10:35 QATAR AVIATION SERVICES INTERVIEW SETTING THE PACE Mehmet Murat Nursel, senior vice president of QAS, took some time to talk to AGS about the company’s dynamic approach to the ground handling business

stablished in 2000, Qatar of its target-recruited QAS team. We Aviation Services (QAS) is identify character and expertise and an award-winning ground recruit on both these factors. The re- handling organisation whose sult is a very ‘human’, ‘high-touch’ and global headquarters is at customer-focused service delivery. EHamad International Airport (HIA), the hub airport of Qatar Airways. There, 8IBUBCPVUTQFDJlDUFDIOPMPHZ it provides the full spectrum of ground BOEPUIFSTPMVUJPOTnIPXIBT handling services, above and below the 2"4JOOPWBUJPODPOUSJCVUFEUPUIF wing, to all airlines using the airport. HSPVOEIBOEMJOHJOEVTUSZ QAS holds ISAGO, ISO 9000 and QAS has a strong customer focus Regulated Agent 3 certiﬁ cations. It is a ensuring that the incorporation of tech- member of the IATA Ground Handling nology into operations has led to great- Partnership, and is active in several er efﬁ ciency and saving money and time IATA Technical Groups: IATA Ground for our airline and airport customers. Operations Manual; Load Control and QAS is a change-leader, either as an Messaging; Ground Service Equipment early adopter or as innovator. and Environment; and the Airside tar, since HIA is one of the newest, We have developed our own pro- Safety Group. The company’s manage- busiest and fastest-growing hub air- prietary technology, which has led to ment team holds key positions in these ports in the world. QAS has to keep other GHAs copying us to remain com- technical groups, proposing and imple- pace with that growth. petitive. A few examples are: menting developments that improve Being the only GHA at HIA not only 1. QAS Ramp Clearance Module standards across the aviation industry. gives QAS a monopoly position in the provides excellence in turnaround Nursel joined QAS in March 2014 business, but also requires us to pro- functionality and performance as vice president operations, with over vide every possible service that a GHA monitoring through QMobile. This 19 years’ experience in ground han- could be asked for. There is no option ensures complete transparency of dling operations (he was previously for us. This is important because it has operational performance, leading COO of Celebi Ground Handling in stretched and strengthened QAS to be to optimal turnaround and ramp Turkey). He is now senior vice presi- the best in a high-tech, high-traffic and clearance. dent of Doha-based QAS. high-growth hub airport environment. 2. QAS Care mobility solutions It is important to understand that provide our PRM customers with )PXDPNQFUJUJWFJTUIFIBOEMJOH an ideal ground handling partner for connectivity assistance and comfort. FOWJSPONFOUJO2BUBSUIFTFEBZT an airport or airline has to always pos- More than 2,000 passengers per BOEXIBUNBLFT2"4TUBOEPVUJO sess greater service capacity than the day from all over the world utilise UIFNBSLFUJOUFSNTPGUIFTFSWJDFT airport or airline requires at any time. this technology-enabled and highly JUQSPWJEFT Otherwise the GHA holds back its cus- personalised service. The ground handling environment tomer’s growth, rather than empower- 3. Bag View, the result of globally has never been busier or more ing it. That is the great competitive collaboration with Amadeus and challenging. This is equally so for Qa- advantage that QAS provides because Qatar Airways’ IT department,

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04-07 QAS AGS-SUM18.indd 4 03/04/2018 09:54 Aviation The ISS Way

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04-07 QAS AGS-SUM18.indd 5 03/04/2018 09:54 QATAR AVIATION SERVICES INTERVIEW

ensures that passengers and their bags stay together. By electronically monitoring passenger boarding data, the system can automatically enable Ætheir baggage for loading or offloading. This industry-leading innovation contributes to enhanced security and turnaround performance. 4. IATA RP 1800 is QAS’s answer to implementing the requirements for automated baggage handling for IATA Resolution 753. Further to this, and together with HIA, QAS is taking a lead role to initiate IATA to trial the implementation for electronic bag tags (EBT). QAS will be soon able to handle EBT technology. 5. QAS Resource Management System has led to the radical optimisation of resources across all aspects of our operations. This has resulted in savings of time and money for our airport and airline customers.

The great challenge of any hub, especially in heavily trafficked regions, is passenger growth and airport growth. We have illustrated a few 'JHVSFTBTPG+BOVBSZ%FDFNCFS specific examples of how we antici-

Individual. Reliable. Innovative. We take care. You take off.

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04-07 QAS AGS-SUM18.indd 6 03/04/2018 09:54 QATAR AVIATION SERVICES INTERVIEW

pate and keep ahead of our customers’ whole QAS community and their fami- globally. Since 2000, we have been growth demands, and so enable their lies to celebrate our joint commitment keeping ahead of the growth needs of growth rather than hinder it by not to one another’s safety in the work- one of the fastest-growing airlines and being prepared. place and the home. At QAS, we care airports in the world. We have the ca- HIA for example, has an average for one another. pacity and our services are in demand. annual growth in excess of 20%, so This provides the ideal combination we have to keep ahead of this growth 8IBUJTUIFCJHHFTUDIBMMFOHF for QAS to expand, so 2018 will be an to provide consistently seamless solu- GBDJOHHSPVOEIBOEMFSTBSPVOEUIF interesting year for new steps beyond tions and enhance the passenger’s ex- XPSMEUPEBZ 8IBUDPVMECFEPOFUP Doha, Qatar. perience. QAS is proud of our perfor- PWFSDPNFUIJTDIBMMFOHF mance record. We have already talked about the -FUTDPOTJEFSUIFCSPBEFSDPOUFYU challenge of growth. But the equally PGUIFNBSLFUIPXIBWFQPMJUJDBM )PXDMPTFMZEPZPVnBOEPUIFS great challenge is managing the cost BOEPUIFSNBDSPEFWFMPQNFOUT TUBLFIPMEFSTnXPSLXJUIUIF control of in-house operations so as JO2BUBSBOEUIFXJEFS.JEEMF BJSQPSUPOJTTVFTSFMBUJOHUPHSPVOE to maintain the quality of service de- &BTUSFHJPO BGGFDUFEUIFmPXPG IBOEMJOHPQFSBUJPOT livery. As a result QAS has been able QBTTFOHFSTBOEGSFJHIUUISPVHI The advantage of being part of the to maintain its ‘high-touch’ levels, or %PIBPWFSUIFQBTUZFBS "SFZPV Qatar Airways Group is that we are one personalised service. PQUJNJTUJDSFHBSEJOHUIFGVUVSFPG team committed to common solutions For QAS this is a great differen- 2BUBSTBWJBUJPOJOEVTUSZ to shared challenges. We sit on shared tiator. Everywhere people travel these The future is very bright for avia- committees and working groups. That is days, automation has meant dispens- tion and for the Qatar Airways group the QAS mindset and method, which we ing with the human element, but we in particular. The unique circumstanc- take into our working relationships with recognise that our staff are our ‘busi- es in which we are conducting busi- other customer airports and airlines. ness-difference’. Our systems and tech- ness has necessitated that we grow. As On the community front, QAS has nology support our staff in delivering a result, we have demonstrated to the a demonstrated commitment to giv- excellence and a premium service, not world our capacity for resilience and ing back to the community and being requiring them to adapt to the require- rapid expansion. That is not set to slow a responsible corporate citizen. One ments of technology. down, but to continue to rise. example of this is our environmental The IATA Ground Handling Con- policy of reducing CO2 emissions by *T2"4QMBOOJOHUPFYQBOEBOEJGTP ference is a great opportunity to show- replacing fuel-powered vehicles with DBOZPVQSPWJEFEFUBJMT case QAS on the global stage. We in- battery-powered ones. In addition, our QAS has become a benchmark for vite and welcome all delegates for this annual QAS day brings together the performance excellence among GHAs journey in April 2018.

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04-07 QAS AGS-SUM18.indd 7 03/04/2018 09:54 QATAR AIRWAYS INTERVIEW

Aerial view of Hamad International Airport

SEAMLESS CONNECTIONS Brad Moore, senior vice president Ground Services at Qatar Airways, shares his thoughts about the importance of customer service on the ground as the carrier continues its rapid expansion

viation is Moore’s passion So, what is the latest news from Are passenger demands changing? and he has been engaged Qatar Airways in terms of your Certainly: increasingly, passengers in the industry since 1994, ground services? are tending to want a suite of service op- holding a commercial Qatar Airways is at the forefront of tions where they can customise interac- pilot’s licence. After Air customer service at every level. That’s tions that suit their present needs. For ACanada and Qantas, Qatar Airways is one of the many reasons why we are con- example, some prefer a highly person- the third major airline where he has been sistently rated so highly by our passen- alised service, while others want more a senior post-holder. After a lengthy gers in ‘customer satisfaction’ surveys. self-service. career in aviation, he regards it as “an We achieve this through being very In Qatar Airways Ground Services, honour” to work for what he believes to customer focused, offering a personal our vision is to build our suite of these be the world’s best airline in his current touch, whilst also offering an increasing offerings including enhancements to our role as senior vice president for Ground range of very user-friendly, self-service growing digital solutions that passengers Services. options, involving the use of technology. can access from their mobile devices. We Asked why, he says: “This is a critical Currently in collaboration with are not simply responding to customers’ department in our airline’s operations, Hamad International Airport (HIA), changing demands, but predicting those especially given our rapid expansion. our hub airport, and Qatar Aviation trends and positioning ourselves to stay “Ground Services provides our pas- Services (QAS) our ground handling ahead of their needs. sengers with their connection to the agent, we are developing some excit- services that the airline offers while ing automation projects to enhance How do you ensure a consistent they are in the airport. Our job is to passengers’ seamless travel experience, standard in ground handling across give them the same seamless, person- such as new check-in kiosks, electron- the countries you serve? alised and smooth travel experience ic bag-tag capability and automated Within Qatar, our approach is a blend everywhere across the Qatar Airways bag drop stations. Several of these are of self-handling and partnering with network, from the longest established aligned with IATA’s Fast Travel pro- other Qatar Airways Group subsidiaries. to the newest of our stations. I am enor- gramme, while others are an expres- Across our global network, we engage mously proud of my team, who do this sion of Qatar Airways doing what it with other GHAs. job outstandingly well.” does, as a leader in aviation. Qatar Airways establishes very clear

8 Airline Ground Services Summer 2018 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com

08-09 QR AGS-SUM18.indd 8 03/04/2018 10:37 QATAR AIRWAYS INTERVIEW

Inside the hangar at Doha

Ground Services provides our passengers with their connection to the services that the airline offers while they are in the airport Brad Moore, senior vice president Ground Services at Qatar Airways

performance expectations and we meas- ure each GHA’s performance monthly against a comprehensive range of KPIs. Stations across the network are then ranked by their performance and managed accordingly. Here in Doha, Qatar Airways self- handles a range of needs ‘above the wing’, providing a suite of ground services and passenger lounge products. ‘Below the wing’, we partner with QAS. It needs to be noted that in our ranking of all the GHAs across our global network, it is Qatar Airways’ home hub is Doha’s QAS, our internal partner, which con- Hamad International Airport sistently outperforms every other GHA. While most of our growth has hap- pened outside the Middle East, we have Our focus will be on: continuing to to perform to our exceptional service also opened new routes and increased achieve and maintain our quality and standards for every ﬂ ight. frequencies into existing destinations performance standards during this within the region. season of sustained and rapid growth; What are your hopes and The main challenge for us remains progressing the development of our expectations for this year’s IATA catering to increased demand for our growing suite of product offerings; and Ground Handling Conference? airline by service-hungry travellers. continuing to hold the GHAs across our This IGHC is a significant event for HIA passenger numbers have grown network to these same quality and ser- Qatar Airways and QAS and it is in- throughout 2017 and Qatar is rapidly vice performance standards. deed an honour to host such a prestig- growing in popularity as a holiday and We work hard to recognise our GHA ious event at our home base in Doha. stopover destination in its own right. partners where they do a great job. The I hope that all in attendance can get vast majority of our GHA partners per- the benefit of reviewing and observing What are your plans for the rest of form very well. However, if a GHA out- best practice in the ground handling this year (and beyond) as regards side of Doha does not meet our very industry. your ground services, partnerships exacting standards, we are prepared to Most importantly, this conference and your network? change GHAs. This is to improve our gives the aviation industry the opportu- Throughout 2017 we have opened 11 capability for expanding our ground ser- nity to see QAS showcased to the world. new destinations and our group CEO re- vices operations in destinations where There is no better way for our industry cently announced at ITB Berlin a further this may be warranted. colleagues to see and understand why 16 new routes to be opened throughout At the end of the day, performance they are the world’s premier ground 2018/2019. is key and I expect our GHA partners handling service provider.

www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com Summer 2018 Airline Ground Services 9

08-09 QR AGS-SUM18.indd 9 03/04/2018 10:37 IGHC PREVIEW

The 31st IATA Ground Handling Conference, hosted by Qatar Airways and Qatar Aviation Services at the Sheraton Grand Doha Resort & Convention Hotel on 22-25 April, will look into the future of ground operations and how they interconnect with airports, terminals, aircraft and the ramp. IATA’s Ground Ops team explains

The Qatari capital, Doha, provides the backdrop for this year’s IGHC

FORWARD THINKING

mong the topics in focus reliable data exchanges to make interac- process seamless, secure and effi cient at this year’s gathering tive decisions. Sessions on GSE pooling from the passenger’s point of view. will be IATA’s NEXTT and autonomous/self-docking GSE will initiative, which pulls share practical experience on these top- THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE together a common vision ics. While the traditional aircraft ‘tube, Ato enhance the on-ground transport In addition, the passenger’s journey wings and tail’ shapes will be with us experience. NEXTT examines how the – right from booking a ticket until arriv- for quite a number of years yet, the latest technological developments and al at fi nal destination or return to home potential use of blended wings and other innovations can be used to improve the base – is increasingly in the spotlight. radical thinking about aircraft structure journey for passenger, baggage, cargo Concerns for increased security meas- and power sources are also under and aircraft turnarounds. ures and checks are vying with ever- consideration. Trends to push processes off-airport, higher numbers of passengers moving Changing the shape of the aircraft deployment of more advanced technolo- through airports and into the transport will likely change the shape of the ter- gies and automation will lead to a rapid feeder networks that serve them. minal because of how these differently transformation and modernisation of The conference will consider digiti- shaped aircraft ‘plug in’ – literally and ground handling. This technology al- sation of the entire airport and its pe- fi guratively – to airport terminals. ready has the potential to deliver effi - ripherals, as covered in the NEXTT ini- Our passenger boarding bridges, ciencies that are otherwise unachievable tiative, from the airport and ramp per- passenger stairs, cargo loaders and all – but this demands real-time trusted, spectives. The aim is to make the entire the current host of GSE are all based on docking equipment at a more or less IGHC is where IATA both prompts and listens to the industry circular cross-sectioned fuselage. Mov- ing to a radically different shape of aircraft means re-thinking how we load and unload passengers, baggage, cargo, and food and, possibly to a lesser extent, how we deal with power, fuel, water and waste. This means rethinking GSE and ramp operations and even ramp and aircraft parking capacity. Shifting from traditional fuel sources, both for future aircraft and future GSE, brings with it a potentially different airport terminal building design. For example, maximum electrical energy generation can be achieved by harvesting power from optimally orientated solar panels and even wind genera- tors that could form an integral part of airport building design, to augment the

10 Airline Ground Services Summer 2018 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com

10-11 IGHC AGS-SUM18.indd 10 03/04/2018 10:42 IGHC PREVIEW

IGHC attracts over 700 delegates from over 80 different countries RESULTS IGHC is where IATA both prompts and listens to the industry. For instance, at the IGHC in Kuala Lumpur in 2014, the idea of standardised machine-readable aircraft alignment markings was mooted and surveyed amongst participants, together with the concept of engineering out the risk in GSE. This has resulted in new requirements for GSE in the AHM and prototype autonomous GSE that are already docking safely at the aircraft. Other examples include the intro- duction of the IATA Ground Operations Manual, the move to an XML format for load control and the encouragement and interest received for the Weight & Bal- ance Information Centre. Not to be forgotten, of course, is the perennial favourite of the IGHC – the IATA Standard Ground Handling tion, together with shared platforms, Agreement (SGHA). can not only eliminate the errors inher- The SGHA is in fact what launched What really sets this event ent in manual systems, but enhance ca- the IGHC all those years ago with the apart and makes it unique is pabilities by incorporating updates, and need to create a forum at which airlines that IATA backs it up with recalculating loads/capacity depending and ground service providers could a solid foundation of ground on cargo loading system lock/stop ser- meet on equal terms to discuss the nuts handling expertise, or access to viceability, fuel, water needs and more and bolts of contracting out ground necessary expertise, which can – all in real time. handling. be brought to bear on pretty This document has become the de much any aspect of the ramp BEHIND THE SCENES facto industry ground handling agree- Typically, the IGHC attracts over ment and it is at the IGHC where IATA 700 delegates from over 80 different and the members of the AGSA Techni- countries, sharing a wide spread of cal Group receive much useful input experience and opinion. and feedback on the SGHA. This year What really sets this event apart and we will also tackle the changes in the makes it unique is that IATA backs it up SGHA 2018, enabling delegates to un- with a solid foundation of ground han- derstand new provisions such as airline dling expertise, or access to necessary insolvency, cargo damage liability and expertise, which can be brought to bear many others. on pretty much any aspect of the ramp In addition to plenary sessions, and transferred to industry standards workshops, exhibition and networking and initiatives. opportunities, attendees of IGHC can In addition, with its publications and also look forward to a welcome cocktail manuals, IATA has an effective means of and gala networking reception. shaping and making actual change in Plus, this year’s event will include the the industry. second IGHC Innovator competition, hugely increased demand for electrical Behind the scenes at IATA Ground which recognises the best new ideas in power to support an all-electric aircraft Operations there is a structure of a ground handling and is expected to be and ground service vehicle fleet in addi- Ground Operations Working Group (the tightly contested. tion to the already large load of current GOG) and five Technical Groups com- All of these elements, as well as con- buildings. prising experts from airlines, ground tinuous support over the years from ded- These airport terminal structural service providers, manufacturers and icated industry sponsors, hosts, airlines, and passenger embarking/disembarking solutions providers who all actively ground service providers and manufac- changes are but one facet of the changes contribute their time and experience to turers, combine to make IGHC not only coming to our passengers as we look into ensure that what you find in the Airport the longest-running, but also the most the future. How all this is to be done will Handling Manual, the IATA Ground wide-ranging and successful ground be the focus of the Passenger Journey Operations Manual, the Load Control handling event – with the unique ability session on Wednesday. XML Toolkit and the new Weight & Bal- to produce and sustain real change and Another piece of the digitisation/ ance Information Centre will be appli- benefits in the industry. integration puzzle will be tackled in cable, relevant and up to date with the We’re not all talk: we also do and a workshop on efficient load control. industry. deliver. Currently, this relies heavily on manual There will be opportunities to meet processes. IATA’s Load Control and with and hear from members of the GOG For more information about IGHC Innovator visit Messaging group is looking into ways as well as the Technical Groups through http://www.iata.org/events/ighc/Pages/innovation- in which consistency and standardisa- either plenary sessions or workshops. competition.aspx

www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com Summer 2018 Airline Ground Services 11

10-11 IGHC AGS-SUM18.indd 11 03/04/2018 10:42 EUROPE ROUND-UP

With margins still a major concern in some European markets, ground handlers in the region are investing in several business areas to survive and grow while keeping up with constant change

PRESSURE ccording to Anna Rosek, The widespread use of the Internet each employee to be vetted by the rele- chief operating offi cer and and self-check-in technology, mean- vant authorities before they are granted chief commercial offi cer while, mean that fi rst contact between – or not – the necessary permits to enter at LS Airport Services passengers and ground handling staff restricted areas. (LSAS) in Poland, the often does not take place until boarding. LSAS is negotiating with airport Apresence of low-cost carriers (LCCs) However, that does not mean that staff management to develop better solu- has changed the European market are becoming less important. Indeed, in tions; however, Rosek notes that “the signifi cantly. situations such as fl ight delays or cancel- seriousness of this problem requires the She explains: “By limiting costs, lations, ground handling staff are essen- involvement of all parties operating in LCCs also limit the scope of required ac- tial to provide a quality, personal service the area of the airport and taking action tivities. For example, due to the fact that to passengers. that deviates from current standards”. low-cost airlines generally do not carry Currently LSAS, like many others in Simon Messner, senior vice presi- cargo, this obviously means that the ac- the Polish (and wider European) mar- dent Europe at Swissport, highlights an- tivity of the handling agent in this area ket, is struggling with the tough labour other tricky aspect of staffi ng. remains at an almost untouched level.” market. “Recruitment in a seasonal business Warsaw Modlin Airport, mean- The company has implemented a like ours continues to be a challenge as while, was designed and built espe- number of initiatives for the education we are in competition with many other cially for LCCs. “The walk-in/walk-out of young people in the aviation sector, employers in the service industry,” he positions were included in the airport including internship agreements with says. “It can be a challenge to attract and project,” Rosek says. Thanks to that, we aeronautical schools and aviation tech- retain staff, both young and experienced. could disregard the purchase and fu- nicians under a new project entitled LS Working hours in the service industry ture use of extremely expensive airport Academy. are irregular and other industries may passenger buses, which had a direct In addition to the diffi culty in fi nd- offer superior compensation.” impact on our commercial offer to the ing new recruits, the high level of secu- However, he considers: “What does interested carrier.” rity in the airport environment requires play out to our advantage is the emo-

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12-15 Europe AGS-SUM18.indd 12 03/04/2018 12:24 EUROPE ROUND-UP

tional component of the aviation sector, existing infrastructure and, of course, fi - ed its cargo handling licence for another which still appeals to a lot of people. We nances. seven years. are also investing in our leadership pro- Traditional ground handling is under grammes, training excellence and career a great deal of cost pressure in Europe. BALANCE planning in order to attract qualifi ed Therefore, Swissport has been diversi- Seeking to grow its ground handling employees.” fying and expanding its cargo handling business is Worldwide Flight Services business and other airport services such (WFS) – whose core activity remains INVESTMENT as special services for passengers with cargo handling. Many US and Middle Eastern carriers reduced mobility, security and fuelling, “So far we have ground operations in are expanding their network in Europe often through local partnerships. Europe (France and Spain), and in Asia or adding frequencies on existing Messner says: “In Europe Swissport (Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok),” routes – and many European airports has very strong market positions in says Will Facey, executive vice president are almost at capacity, while passenger Spain, Benelux, Switzerland, Germany, ground handling Europe, Middle East, and cargo volumes continue to rise. Finland, Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Africa and Asia. But Messner points out that there is the UK and Ireland. Projects are under “France is a complicated market. a trend towards developing current evaluation in various other European It’s heavily licensed, especially Paris, al- airport infrastructures, both to increase countries where Swissport is not yet though it is more open in the provinces. capacity and to enhance the passenger present. There’s an imbalance, with very busy experience. “As of 1 April 2018, Swissport in Ger- commuter periods, and costs are high so Thus: “Several European airports many will take over all ground handling margins are not that healthy.” have impressive investment pro- services for Ryanair at Berlin Schönefeld While WFS is headquartered in grammes in place, such as Amsterdam, Airport. Ryanair has stationed 10 air- Paris, Facey expects that other locations Helsinki or Zurich Airport, to cope with craft in Schönefeld and operates around will contribute more to the growth of the the predicted growth in 2030. Some 16,000 fl ights a year. Our service scope company’s ground handling business. Eastern European airports are [being] includes ticketing, check-in, gate, pas- For instance, Spain is “a mature and rebuilt or renovated. senger transport and baggage handling balanced market. The country has gone “At the same time, digitalisation services.” through its social pain and fi nancial cri- is the key trend in our industry. Due Swissport is hiring around 150 new sis, the unions are more fl exible and it’s to a change in European directives in employees at Berlin Schönefeld and will a healthier commercial environment”, 2018, we are just about to roll out bag- invest around 3 million euros in new he says. gage reconciliation systems throughout ground service equipment, he confi rms. In the UK, price is “through the Europe in order to follow the baggage Elsewhere, Swissport Belgium has fl oor” and ground handlers generally journey digitally and to know at any renewed its ground handling licence make very low – or no – margins. time where customer bags are located,” with Brussels Airport Company. The Facey remarks: “There’s a lot of ten- Messner adds. new seven-year licence will come into sion as airlines think they are not getting Such measures may not be easy for a effect on 28 October 2018. Swissport what they were promised. Elsewhere in handler to implement, depending on the Cargo Services Belgium has also extend- Europe, there are margins and better HOW MIGHT BREXIT AFFECT GROUND HANDLERS IN EUROPE? Rosek:h#SFYJUTIPVMEOPUTJHOJlDBOUMZBGGFDUUIFOVNCFSPGQBTTFOHFSTBOEJODPOTFRVFODFUIFOVNCFSPGDBSSJFSTBOE IBOEMJOHBHFOUTPOUIFNBSLFU5PCFIPOFTU JUJTUPPFBSMZUPQSFEJDUUIFSFBMJOmVFODFPGUIJTQSPDFTTPOUIFHSPVOEIBO dling market in Europe. We still do not know enough about the new law regulations.” Messner:h"TBHMPCBMMZQSFTFOUDPNQBOZ XFBSFHFOFSBMMZJOGBWPVSPGPQFONBSLFUT"UUIJTTUBHF JUJTEJGlDVMUUPQSFEJDU JGBOEIPXUIF#SFYJUNJHIUJNQBDUPVSCVTJOFTTv Facey:h&6MFHJTMBUJPO PUIFSXJTFLOPXOBTUIF1BTTFOHFS$IBSUFS PSJHJOBMMZEFWFMPQFEJOUIFT IBTTJODFCFFO BCVTFEJOTFWFSBMDPVSUDBTFTTPUIBUBMNPTUBOZUIJOHDBOOPXCFHSPVOETGPSBOBJSMJOFUPIBWFUPQBZDPNQFOTBUJPO"JSMJOFT BSFOPXUIFJOTVSFSTPGMBTUSFTPSUnBOECFDBVTFPG#SFYJU UIF6,IBTOPDIBODFPGJOKFDUJOHBOZDPNNPOTFOTFJOUPUIJTv

Will Facey, executive vice president Simon Messner, senior vice president "OOB3PTFL DIJFGPQFSBUJOHPGlDFS ground handling Europe, Middle East, Europe, Swissport BOEDIJFGDPNNFSDJBMPGlDFS -4"4 Africa and Asia

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long-term relationships – there’s a bal- business has to change: “It’s not a great according to common standards, espe- ance between the airlines and the han- experience for the passenger, generally. cially in a growing industry with signifi - dlers, and the tensions are controlled. The successful airlines are those cant pressure from different stakehold- “The situation in the UK is purely who get rid of queuing (for instance ers,” he says. down to market forces. The airlines push through auto-bag drop systems) and Swissport is working towards this theÆ cost down as much as possible, and give people their personal time back, with its Swissport Formula, an opera- handlers are sometimes willing to go making flying an easier and more tional framework that is implemented into a market at zero or a very low mar- pleasurable experience. throughout its network. A key focus gin in order to gain market share.” “For passenger handling, you almost area is safety; the company has invest- This is something that WFS is deter- want to be invisible. Below the wing, ed in several programmes to enhance mined to avoid as it expands its ground you want to be safe (that means both safety awareness and culture in its op- handling activities. The company will staff and the aircraft) and effi cient so erations. It reduced aircraft damages in provide resilience in terms of on-time the fl ights you handle leave on time. You 2017 by more than 20% over the previ- performance, service quality and so on, need to be consistent and accountable, ous year. but it will do so only based on sustain- with an open and just reporting culture.” LSAS, meanwhile, is optimistic able margins, Facey says. Plus, Facey points out: “You’ve got for the future. It has raised wages and Asia offers quite a contrast to the to remember ground handling staff are other benefi ts as well as beginning a 12 European business environment, he working shifts, in exposed conditions, million euro investment programme to goes on. and not for the highest pay; they ought modernise its GSE fl eet with the addi- For instance: “Labour in Asia is less to be well trained and respected.” tion of electric vehicles – something that of a cost for ground handling opera- Overall: “Airlines are up for new sup- requires close collaboration with airport tors so they can assign more people to pliers who can offer long-term partner- management to ensure adequate infra- things. The service expectation is high- ship, better service, resilience and trans- structure is put in place. er among travellers in this region be- parency. The existing players are all very “We are and always have been very cause it has always been that way – and similar, very traditional, offering noth- ambitious,” says Rosek. The company is cheap labour enables you to provide a ing new in regard to their relationships positioning itself to serve Poland’s new fantastic service. with the airlines,” he feels. Central Airport that is to be built be- “This is not possible in Europe, so Messner believes that the current tween Warsaw and Lodz (scheduled for you have to have multi-function, multi- price pressure in some European coun- completion by 2027), as well as keeping skilled staff who are willing to operate tries is not sustainable, and expects fur- up with growth in passenger and cargo on fl exible rosters.” ther consolidation in the market. throughput at its existing stations. In addition: “Regulatory authorities “2018 will be the year of diligent CHANGE and governments need to ensure that work to make sure those plans come to Facey is clear that the ground handling the ground handling industry works life,” she says.

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"GSJDBIBTFOPSNPVTQPUFOUJBMJOUIFBWJBUJPOTFDUPS#VUBUPYJDNJYPGJOlHIUJOHCFUXFFO OBUJPOT QPMJUJDBMDPSSVQUJPO TUBUFNPOPQPMJFTBOEFDPOPNJDNJTNBOBHFNFOUJTIPMEJOHUIF JOEVTUSZCBDLDavid SmithlOETPVUNPSF

hough there are pockets of born wife, Brenda Aremo-Anichini, and structure was designed for aircraft excellence in the African the couple named the business after from the 1960s and 1970s. The air- ground handling sector, the Swahili word for giraffe – ‘twiga’. line’s CEO was so angry he was doing there are far too many Anichini fi nds the persistently negative double backflips. The damage meant examples of ineffi cient images of Africa in the Western media a US$2 million bill and the airplane Tmanagement, ageing infrastructure and frustrating. He describes a continent had to be grounded for weeks,” Ani- poor safety standards. that is blessed with tremendous natu- chini says. “We can’t take ground handling in ral resources and bursting at the seams The airport infrastructure might be isolation because everything is inter- with well-educated, energetic young the responsibility of the aerodrome op- related and the economics of the whole people. erator, but if it is left in shoddy condi- industry have to work for everyone,” But he also observes a high level of tion it has a harmful impact on ground says ground handling consultant Mau- poor practice in the air industry there. operations. “We see a lot of airlines rizio Anichini. “But other continents He tells a story that eloquently sums up using unfair service-level agreements are seeing profi ts of between 5% and the problems: “There was the inaugural against the GSPs [ground service pro- 30%, according to IATA [International fl ight of a B787 at an airport in south- viders] and penalising ‘poor service’, Air Transport Association] statistics, west Africa. The airport made a big such as not smiling enough. But when whereas the African sector comes up brouhaha to impress the international airports are not doing their job proper- with a loss at the end of the year,” he airline, putting on a festival with water- ly, or investing in airport infrastructure, argues. He fi nds it frustrating to see so sprays from the fi re brigade. But as the ground handlers get blamed unfairly,” much potential going to waste. aircraft taxied in, one of its wing tips Anichini says. At the root of Anichini’s wish to struck a fl agpole and put a hole in the “You see aircraft squeezed into park- see Africa thrive is a strong personal fuselage. ing bays that are too tight so there’s not connection with the continent. He co- “Why was the flagpole there? Be- enough operation space to handle them. founded Twiga Aero with his Kenyan- cause the sub-standard airport infra- There’s a lot of sub-standard machinery,

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such as old baggage systems that slow is secured. Being sure their asset won’t everything down. If a passenger gets be damaged is a major concern for air- We can’t take ground bogged down in a 45-minute queue for lines, but it’s all too common in African handling in isolation because check-in, then an hour for immigration airports,” she says. everything is interrelated and security, it won’t matter how much you IATA research suggests airlines are the economics of the whole smile at them,” he points out. right to be worried about their assets. industry have to work for The aircraft hull-loss accident rate in everyone OPENING UP Africa is more than six times higher Maurizio Anichini. In Africa, a lot of state-owned airports than in Asia and Latin America, and ground handling consultant act as monopoly providers of ground more than 12 times higher than in Eu- handling services. Aremo-Anichini, who rope and North America. used to work for Kenya Airways, says In some parts of Africa, the arrival airports “don’t want to open up services of international GSPs has raised stand- because they want 100% of the pie”. ards. Swissport is located in nine coun- But lack of competition makes them tries on the continent and Menzies Avi- complacent about improving service and ation is in seven countries. However, they are often incapable of coping when Aremo-Anichini says that international demand rises. GSPs still have to demonstrate that “When the aerodrome operator is their local provision is the same as in also the GSP, it’s hard to ensure regu- their main stations. latory oversight of operations. The two Liberalising the African industry services should be separate. Competi- has helped to make the market more tion is nearly always a good thing as it efﬁ cient in some parts, but it’s not forces GSPs to raise standards. Other- straightforward for private companies wise there’s no incentive to improve,” to thrive when margins are so tight. she says. “Even where the industry is liberal- Airlines tend to be uncomfortable ised, there are several small han- with monopoly providers, she observes. dling companies at a single airport “They feel a degree of vulnerability in and this results in price under- case the GSP doesn’t have robust pro- cutting as they’re all competing cesses and training to ensure their asset for business,” says Amr Samir,

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Even where the industry is liberalised, there are several small handling companies at a single airport and this results in price undercutting Amr Samir, CEO, Link Aero Trading Agency

CEO of Link Aero Trading Agency. “As a result, the quality of both services and safety is lower in some places compared REINVESTING with global fi gures.” *GBJSMJOFTJO"GSJDBXFSFNBLJOHNPSFNPOFZ UIFZXPVMECFBCMFUPQBZhBEFRVBUFv Anichini says economic realities SBUFTUPUIF(41T XIPJOUVSOXPVMEUIFOCFBCMFUPBGGPSEUPSFGVSCJTIUIFJS(4& force airlines to encourage price un- mFFUT dercutting. African governments could )PXFWFSh*GBJSMJOFTDPOUJOVFUPESJWFUIF(41EPXOUPUIFMPXFTUMFWFMT JUTOPU ease the pressures by lowering fees for HPPEGPSBOZPOFnTUBSUJOHXJUIUIFBJSMJOFTUIFNTFMWFT BTUIFZBSFOPUHFUUJOHB airlines, but they usually insist on high HPPETFSWJDF v"OJDIJOJTBZT levels of navigation and airport charges, as well as high passenger taxes and "GVSUIFSQSPCMFNGPS(41TXBOUJOHUPVQHSBEFUIFJS(4&JO"GSJDBJTUIBUIJHI overnight user fees. JNQPSU UBYFT EPVCMF PS FWFO USJQMF UIF QSJDF UBH *U DPNQFMT UIFN UP CVZ SFGVS “As a result of all the charges, air- CJTIFEFRVJQNFOUGSPNDPNQBOJFTTVDIBT#FMHJVNCBTFE"WJBDP*OFWJUBCMZ UIFTF lines are unable to put on more capacity. NBDIJOFTQFSGPSNMFTTXFMMUIBONPEFSOPOFTBOEUFOEUPCFMFTTFOWJSPONFOUBMMZ By lowering charges, they would stimu- FGlDJFOU late the market. There’d be more fl ights "OJDIJOJTBZTPOFDPNNPOQSBDUJDFJO"GSJDBJTUPVTFBHSJDVMUVSBMUSBDUPSTPOUIF and more seats, and that would result SBNQh*GZPVHPUP+PIBOOFTCVSH PSKVTUBCPVUBOZXIFSFJOTVC4BIBSBO"GSJDB in lower prices and more people would ZPVTFFBMPUPGBHSJDVMUVSBMUSBDUPST XIJDIBSFOPUEFTJHOFEGPSUIFSBNQ5IFZIBWF fl y,” Anichini argues. “Then you’d have FOPVHIQPXFSBOEUPSRVF CVUUIFZSFUPPIFBWZBOECJHBOEUIFCSBLFTBSFOPUTVJU more people spending money on duty- BCMFGPSUPXJOHPSUPOOFTPGDBSHPBSPVOEBOBJSDSBGU vIFTBZT free whiskey and perfume. We’ve seen 0OFSFBTPO(41TCVZUIFUSBDUPSTJTCFDBVTFUIFZBSFNBEFVOEFSMJDFODFJO"GSJDB in Europe how Ryanair and easyJet CZ64DPNQBOZ.BTTFZ'FSHVTPO8JUIPVUJNQPSUEVUJFT UIFZBSFNPSFBGGPSEBCMF have reached whole populations who "OJDIJOJXPVMEMJLFUPTFFBTJNJMBSFDPOPNJDNPEFMVTFEJOUIFNBOVGBDUVSFPG(4& would otherwise not fl y. Part of their h5IFSFTBUSFNFOEPVTPQQPSUVOJUZGPS&VSPQFBOQSPWJEFSTUPUFBNVQXJUI"GSJDBO business model is to convince airports DPNQBOJFTBOECVJMENBDIJOFTUIFSFVOEFSMJDFODFUPBWPJEJNQPSUEVUJFT:PVTFF to lower their charges.” BTJNJMBSNPEFMJO5IBJMBOEGPS(4&FRVJQNFOU BOEBMTP#.8DBST BTJNQPSUEVUJFT BSFBSPVOE vIFTBZT WORKING TOGETHER Aremo-Anichini would like to see "GSJDBO(41TIBWFBDIBODF "OJDIJOJDPOUFOET UPMFBQGSPHBIFBECZQVSDIBTJOH African GSPs position themselves as key FMFDUSJD(4&FRVJQNFOUUPSFQMBDFUIFJSSFGVSCJTIFEEJFTFMPOFTh*EFBMMZ *EMJLFUP stakeholders in the market. But in order TFFUIFNHPTUSBJHIUGSPNBHSJDVMUVSBMUSBDUPSTUPFMFDUSJDUSBDUPSTBOEMJWFJOUIF to do so, they have to stop focusing only GVUVSF.PSFBOENPSFBJSQPSUTBSFMPPLJOHUPBDIJFWF"$*<"JSQPSUT$PVODJM*OUFSOB on how much money they’re making and UJPOBM>FOWJSPONFOUBMDFSUJlDBUJPO v"OJDIJOJTBZT work together as partners to improve

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conditions for everyone. Emirates, at the expense of African air- the Single African Air Transport Mar- “They need to build long-term re- lines,” says Anichini. ket (SAATM). The goal is to transform lationships with airlines and airports. Collective agreements to address intra-African air travel by lowering Most GSP contracts can be severed with the lack of cooperation issues have prices and increasing the frequency of a 60-day notice period, which makes it largely failed to date. In 1999, 44 coun- fl ights. Although the total population hard to invest in better equipment,” she tries signed the Yamoussoukro Decision of Africa accounts for 17% globally, the says. “But if they know they have a long- to deregulate air services and promote proportion of air travel passengers is term business partnership with airline regional air markets. It followed up on somewhere between 2% and 4%. x, or aerodrome y, they will be able to the Yamoussoukro Declaration of 1988, Signifi cant liberalisation of the recuperate costs over time. It’s a more market could have major benefi ts, ac- sustainable model. But it will take in- cording to an IATA study of 12 stra- novative thinking, which is best done tegic African states. IATA’s research together,” she says. suggests that if the skies in the 12 Greater cooperation is also neces- countries were fully liberalised, air sary at a national level, Anichini adds. traffi c fl ow would increase by 82% and If African countries ended their in- it would generate 155,000 jobs in avia- fi ghting, it would benefi t the entire tion, tourism and the wider economy. continent’s aviation sector. Many coun- Anichini’s hope is that this time, tries restrict their air services markets the African nations will make more to protect the market share of state- effort to implement the policies, al- owned carriers. This practice originat- though he sounds a note of caution. ed in the early 1960s when many newly “With protectionist governments, we independent states created national in which many of the same countries cannot rule out the question of cor- airlines. However, the strict regulatory agreed to principles of air services lib- ruption. Many African countries are protection that sustains these carri- eralisation. sorely in need of revamping their ers infl ates fares and reduces air traffi c Implementation of the agreement leadership. People like Mugabe have growth. has been poor, however, according to corrupted nations and held them back Indeed: “All the protectionist meas- the World Bank. Nevertheless, in Janu- for years. The problem is that the guys ures and intra-African competition ary this year, 23 African countries made replacing them are just as corrupt. A have served to benefi t major foreign stronger commitments to work togeth- handful of people in African make it airlines, such as Qatar, Turkish and er to liberalise the market by launching hard for the rest,” he concludes.

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FINDING A BALANCE

Siegfried Pasler (managing ubsidiaries of Munich Air- The challenge for AeroGround as a port, AeroGround Munich universal provider is to offer all our cus- director AeroGround and AeroGround Berlin tomers individualised service packages Munich) and Christian offer landside and airside and tailored handling processes meeting Stoschek (managing handling services – includ- the specifi c quality standards and prod- Sing aircraft, baggage and passenger uct requirements demanded in handling. director AeroGround handling – at Munich as well as at Ber- Munich & Berlin) talk to lin’s Tegel and Schönefeld gateways. How is the market performing AGS about the changing – generally across Germany? How is business at the airports you Pasler: We assume that the rate of and challenging – German serve? Any particular highlights or infl ation in Germany will rise in the ground handling market low points recently? What is driving medium term compared to past years. these trends? At the same time, employee representa- Stoschek: Of course, the insolvency tives enforced sharp wage increases in of Air Berlin in 2017 affected our busi- recent negotiations. That, coupled with ness in Munich and Berlin, so now we further growing shortage of skilled are focusing on balancing this gap. workers, has diminished profi tability Also we observe increasing polari- in the ground handling business, where sation in airlines’ business models. On margins were already weak. the one hand, there are premium car- We are convinced that, after many riers with complex network and transit years of steady decline in prices, sus- links, especially as part of long-haul tainable ground handling operations and hub traffic. On the other, there can be preserved only if price increases are low-cost carriers, especially in Eu- are able to be agreed with customers in ropean traffic, with extremely short the short and medium term. Given the turnaround times and a reduced range generally low level of plane ticket prices of ground handling services. and strained fi nancial situation of many

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airlines, that’s naturally a diffi cult bal- Are you investing in any particular ancing act – and one that has to be tack- area of your business? led together with our customers. Pasler: We are focusing on the right mix – we aren’t investing more, but bet- Are any of the challenges you face ter: This includes the areas of innova- unique, or do you have to deal with tions management with different pro- pretty much the same issues that jects and cooperation partners, digitisa- confront all handlers at airports tion solutions in general and alternative around the world? drives for green GSE. In addition, we Stoschek: In Berlin we face a very are working on new measures for staff unique challenge as the new airport, qualifi cation, recruiting and employer Berlin-Brandenburg (BER), is still not branding. open yet. The infrastructure at Berlin- Tegel and Schönefeld airports is insuf- What are your views on the question fi cient and old, which also affects our of automation versus job losses in ground handling processes. the ground handling sector? Overall, the major opportunity we Pasler: Both in Munich and Ber- see in the medium term is digitisation. lin, but generally in Germany, we are The goal is to leverage technological concerned with full employment and possibilities optimally to enable effi - at the same time lack of employees, cient, fl exible planning and controlling especially in relatively low-skilled and of operations. physically demanding activities. To A further major challenge is to de- keep up with the growth in air traffic, velop solutions for the increasing short- we need more efficient use of available age of skilled workers in ground han- personnel. If we don’t solve these is- dling. Greater process automation will sues, the ground handling processes be necessary to achieve that, especially will become a bottleneck for aviation. in passenger handling. We also have Of course, automation and digitisation to ensure we’re seen as an attractive must ensure a higher degree of reli- employer so as to avoid increased staff ability and security. turnover among skilled workers.

AeroGround’s Stoscheck (left) and Pasler

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20-21 Aeroground AGS-SUM18.indd 21 03/04/2018 11:54 POS AVIATION INTERVIEW

Woo Kam Weng has been with Malaysia’s Pos Aviation since 1997 (when it was still known as KLAS – KL Airport Services) and was appointed CEO in February 2017. Having seen the company grow and change over those two decades, he is now keen to develop it further

8IBULFFQTZPVNPUJWBUFEBOE part of that change. We offer catering 17,000 aircraft deliveries predicted. interested in the ground handling services on their regional routes as well There are between 600 million and business? but the London service is the jewel in the 700 million people in the ASEAN re- Through the years we have grown crown, really. gion; that’s a large base of consumers from a brand-new start-up company, a This year we have acquired a number who are beginning to be fi nancially in- pure ground handler, to become an in- of new contracts. We already handled dependent. People are savvy with their tegrated total supply chain business – al- Qatar Airways in Kuala Lumpur but travel so the low-cost carrier model is though ground handling is still our core they have expanded to Penang with a expanding in the region. business. We have 62% of the market B787 (fl ying three times a week) and we share at KLIA [Kuala Lumpur Interna- are serving them there too now. We’ve I understand your company suffers tional Airport], where we handle eight also started handling Garuda Indonesia UIFTBNFEJGlDVMUJFTXJUITLJMMFE of the world’s top 12 airlines. in Kuala Lumpur. NBOQPXFSBOETUBGGSFUFOUJPOBT We have a very dynamic group that We have looked at expanding in the NBOZPUIFSIBOEMFST)PXBSFZPV owns Pos Aviation and they are always region but that is probably two or three approaching this issue? pushing the boundaries, so it’s been very years away. challenging and very rewarding. What is driving demand for your 8IBUJTUIFMBUFTUOFXTGSPN1PT various ground handling services? Aviation? Airlines are experiencing good de- We have broken through with our mand for air travel and the forecast is catering services as we are now provid- still for an average growth of 5% in GDP ing in-fl ight meals for Malaysia Airlines in the Malaysian economy. The Asia Pa- on its fl ights to London (and other pre- cifi c region will keep growing in terms of mium sectors served by the A350). They aviation and in 20 years’ time it will have are revamping their cabins too and we’re 37% of the world’s fl eet, with more than

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22-23 POS AGS-SUM18.indd 22 03/04/2018 09:27 POS AVIATION INTERVIEW

5IFSFBSFCFUXFFONJMMJPO CHANGING and 700 million people in the ASEAN region; that’s a large base BUSINESS PGDPOTVNFSTXIPBSFCFHJOOJOH UPCFlOBODJBMMZJOEFQFOEFOU MODEL Woo Kam Weng, Pos Malaysia has partnered with La- CEO of Pos Aviation zada (in which Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has a large stake) to establish an e-commerce regional distribution centre in Sepang. The centre has been operating since Oc- tober 2016 and Woo says volumes are growing, especially in terms of cross-border transhipment. In addition, he points out: “With the collaboration between the Malaysian government and Alibaba to develop the logistics park in KLIA, the regional distribution hub within the Digital Free Trade Zone is perfectly poised to We have reduced our staff turnover in on the web. Human intervention will exploit this opportunity.” from about 30% to 21% through our only be required should the passenger Human Capital Development & Reten- need any assistance in special cases. Woo notes that the business tion programme and the Intellectual People will still be needed to add value model for e-commerce is chang- Thinking programme, which is training to the entire customer experience. ing. “In this part of the world, a lot aimed more at the managerial level. An example of how technology can of e-commerce products come from Intellectual Thinking helps staff to be used: people travel through transit China but the trend is to move inven- understand themselves better and learn points to destinations with varying visa tory to regional distribution centres where their skills lie. Pre- and post- requirements and you can’t rely on staff to increase the speed of delivery to training tests identify the areas they can to integrate all of that information, so we customers,” he says. improve on and they learn how to make have adopted technology that can scan Singapore and Thailand are Ma- better decisions. They learn how to adapt passports and give a red or green light laysia’s main rivals in the ASEAN e- their leadership style to the new millen- to indicate whether a visa is required or commerce arena. nials, who don’t have the same thinking not. This reduces the process by about style as the baby boomers. It goes two two minutes for each person. If we pro- look at innovations to improve processes ways, though, as we also teach the mil- cess 5 million passengers a year, that using Industry 4.0 (Internet of Things, lennials different ways of thinking. means we save 10 million minutes. 3D printing, data analytics and so on) We bought this programme in from The system is still in development; and applying it to ground handling. an external trainer who travels around we expect to roll it out at KLIA this year, We are also enhancing our facilities the world, challenging people to change followed by our other stations. in our cargo terminal, replacing our GSE their thinking boundaries. I have seen Technology has played its part in fl eet and introducing managed GSE ser- employees start to make better decisions making processes effi cient above the vices, and introducing new systems for after this training. wing but there’s still a lot of investment resource management, revenue capture, required in GSE. I think technology will security and cargo terminal handling. Does the future of ground handling begin to be more prominent on the ramp We will spend 80 million ringgits over lie in the adoption of technology to and GSE will become more effi cient and fi ve years. We have run for 20 years now replace manual processes, do you more intelligent (with proximity sensors and it’s time to move ourselves forward. UIJOL becoming more common, for instance). We are part of a large group and our The current market environment re- holding company is at the forefront of a quires us to be more effi cient and reduce Where else are you investing? lot of things, so yes, we are ambitious too. errors, and technology is perfect for that. We have set up a strategy and in- Customer service still needs the human novation department purely manned Are you optimistic for the future, touch, but the fi rst stage can be done by millennials with specialist skills and or concerned about anything in with technology, for instance checking knowledge. Their whole function is to particular? There are some concerns. ASEAN open skies will kick in and there will be more competition in the ground handling market, which means profi t margins may be squeezed. That’s why we are focusing on being faster, better and cheaper. The core strategy is to have cost leadership in order to be competitive. It’s about value for money, and adding value: balancing service quality and the price the customer is willing to pay.

XXXBHTBJSMJOFHSPVOETFSWJDFTDPN Summer 2018 Airline Ground Services 23

22-23 POS AGS-SUM18.indd 23 03/04/2018 09:28 CABIN REPAIR

FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT

You only get one chance to he cabin interior is the However, he points out: “Mainte- airline’s shop window. If it nance could be viewed by carriers as a NBLFBlSTUJNQSFTTJPO BT is clean and well designed, waste of money – but the cabin is where UIFTBZJOHHPFT$BSSJFST it creates an impression of the punters interface with the aircraft. XIPOFHMFDUUIFJSDBCJO a quality carrier that cares You have to get that right as an airline, Tabout its passengers. If fittings are as everyone is a frequent fl yer nowa- JOUFSJPSTEPTPBUUIFJSQFSJM broken or missing, or surfaces grimy days.” BT$ISJT-FXJTEJTDPWFST or worn, the passenger’s first thought If it were just a matter of tightening may well be: ‘What else is wrong with the odd bolt or cleaning a few seat cov- this plane?’ ers, it would not be such an issue. How- However, keeping a cabin in top ever, as Andrius Norkevicius at MAC condition is labour intensive, and la- Interiors points out, repairing aircraft bour costs money these days. The temp- cabin interiors isn’t a simple matter. tation to let care and maintenance of Norkevicius, who is board member ‘non-essential’ fi xtures and fi ttings slide and business developer at the Gatwick- is ever-present. based one-stop-shop aircraft interiors Derek Byrne, of Aero Aid, based refurbishment, upgrade and manufac- in Navan, Ireland, says: “The airlines turing company, explains: “The biggest want to ignore ‘routine’ or ‘preventa- challenge is access to data for aircraft tive’ maintenance in the cabin and my equipment, in order to perform the experience to date, is that ‘if it isn’t repairs or modifi cation in an afford- broken don’t fi x it and if it is broken, able manner and to be able to perform Besides its work on repair it’ – and a ‘temporary’ repair will the necessary certifi cation. With OEM commercial aircraft, suffi ce. Then generally that becomes a restrictions and monopolies, organisa- MAC Interiors also ‘permanent repair’ until that repair be- tions in maintenance and repair are designs and produces customised business comes unserviceable again and the part faced with countless burn and stress jet VIP interiors is eventually replaced.” tests to do, before alternative repair

24 Airline Ground Services Summer 2018 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com

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schemes or materials can be applied, At MAC Interiors, small WEAR AND TEAR which could be avoided by just simply details like literature However, while interior fi ttings having the data exchange for operators pockets are just as are getting more complex in some important as the main in place.” respects, in others they lYUVSFTBOElUUJOHT MAC Interiors has Design (Part are getting simpler, 21J), Manufacturing (Part21G) and at least at certain Repair (Part 145) approvals and ends of the market. capabilities to work in all types of Aircraft cabins are small and large plane cabins. It can getting much more refurbish or produce lavatories, wear and tear these galleys, front row or surrounding days, especially at furniture, bulkheads and class di- the low-cost carrier viders, stowage, seats and seating (LCC) end of the parts (like plastics, cushions or market, Norkevicius covers). It can also design and pro- continues: “That’s duce customised business jet VIP no surprise or big interiors. challenge itself, just It cooperates with a number of the repair or exchange MRO facilities in UK and in Eu- cycles are more rope when it carries out installation frequent.” and on-wings services. Seats come in for the Lately, MAC Interiors has started most ‘abuse’ so many LCC operators to offer touchless operation lavatory Passengers on longer haul scheduled tend to use the simplest possible seat equipment, like faucets, waste fl aps fl ights are becoming more demand- designs – no recline feature, literature and fl ush operation, as premium fea- ing. “Especially when we do retrofi ts pockets or cup holders – even to the tures and upgrade kits. There is also a or full refurbishment, the latest items extent of sacrifi cing some passenger full cabin upgrade programme offering have to be incorporated,” Norkevicius comfort in exchange for much higher satcom with WiFi connectivity, along says. “Nowadays any longer leg opera- reliability and minimal need for spare with wireless in-fl ight entertainment tion aircraft has to have USB charging parts and repairs. solutions, both for passenger and busi- points and in most cases passengers ex- Designers of interior components ness jets. pect WiFi connectivity too.” are, though, working to make items

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www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com Summer 2018 Airline Ground Services 25

24-29 Cabin repair AGS-SUM18.indd 25 03/04/2018 11:57 CABIN REPAIR

ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY? Æ "JSDSBGU TFBUT IBWF DIBOHFE PWFS UIFZFBST/PXBEBZT UIFSFJTBMPU PG FNQIBTJT PO BQQFBSBODF CVU FRVBMMZ TFBUT UFOE UP CF NPSF SP CVTUBOENBEFGSPNNPSFEVSBCMF DPNQPTJUFNBUFSJBMT "T POF JOEVTUSZ FYQFSU QVU JU h5IF TFBUT UIBU SFQMBDF UIPTF JO MFHBDZBJSDSBGUUFOEUPCFNPSFSVH HFEUIFZIBWFGFXFSQBSUTBOEUIFZ MBTUMPOHFSv 4FBUT DPNF JO GPS B DFSUBJO BNPVOU PG AVOGBJS VTBHF n QFPQMF CPVODJOH UIFJS CBCJFT PO TFBUCBDL UBCMFT GPSFYBNQMFnCVUUIFOVN CFS PG QBSUT UIBU IBWF UP CF SF QMBDFEJTEFDSFBTJOH 4FBU NBOVGBDUVSFST IBWF QBJE NPSF BUUFOUJPO UP NBLJOH DSJUJDBM CAS president of line DPNQPOFOUT MJLF BSN DBQT NPSF operations Michael Stafford SPCVTUnDBCJODSFXEPPDDBTJPOBMMZ TUBOEPOUIFNUPDIFDLPWFSIFBEMPDLFSTnBOEPGUFOJUFNTMJLFTFBUDPWFSTBSF MAC Interiors can refurbish or produce EFTJHOFEGPSRVJDLBOEFBTZSFNPWBMTPUIBUUIFZDBOCFDMFBOFE aircraft galleys, among other items "JSMJOFTPQFSBUFPOUJHIUUVSOBSPVOEUJNFTUIFTFEBZTBOEUIFEFTJHOPGUIF stand up to wear and tear better, with DBCJOJOUFSJPSDBOIBWFBOJOmVFODFPOBDIJFWJOHUIJT materials and designs that combine "JSMJOFTEPBMPUPGTFBUSFQBJSBOENBJOUFOBODFXPSLUIFNTFMWFT CVUUIFSFBSF good functionality with high durabil- TQFDJBMJTUDPNQBOJFTUIBUIFMQlMMJOUIFHBQTPGUIFJSPXOPQFSBUJPOTBOESJEF ity, he says. “Materials like CORIAN PVUUIFQFBLTBOEUSPVHIT FTQFDJBMMZBUCVTJFSQFSJPETXIFOBJSDSBGUHPPGGMFBTF used in lavatories, for example, are ex- BOEBSFMFBTFEPVUBHBJO BOEJUJTPGUFOBUUIJTQPJOUUIBUDBCJOSFGVSCJTINFOUT tremely durable, look good and can be BSFDBSSJFEPVU maintained in good condition with a $FSUJlFE"WJBUJPO4FSWJDFT $"4 QSFTJEFOUPGMJOFPQFSBUJPOT.JDIBFM4UBGGPSE simple polish or rub down with a kitch- TBZTUIBUNBOZBJSMJOFTBSFVTJOHTDIFEVMFEEPXOUJNFUPDBSSZPVUTFBUSFQBJST en sponge. The same is true of non-slip BOE NBJOUFOBODF h4PNF PG PVS DVTUPNFST IBWF TFFO UIF WBMVF JOQBSUOFSJOH ﬂ oor surfaces, which can have the dual XJUI$"4UPQFSGPSNBOPWFSOJHIUDBCJONJTTJPOPOUIFJS30/ SFNBJOJOHPWFS purpose of sealing moisture and being OJHIU BJSDSBGU vIFTBZTh&BDITFBUJTJOTQFDUFEGPSlUGPSNBOEGVODUJPO"MMPG decorative too.” UIFJUFNTUIBUXPVMECFUPVDIFECZUIFQBTTFOHFSEVSJOHUIFmJHIUBSFPQFSBUFE Another new development in the in- BOESFQBJSFEPSBEKVTUFEBTOFFEFEv dustry, although one that has had lim- 5IFTFSWJDFBMTPFYUFOETUPTBGFUZJUFNT CZFOTVSJOHUIFMJGFWFTUJTJOTUBMMFE ited application so far, is 3D printing. BOEQSPQFSMZTUPXFE UIFTFBUCFMUJTJOHPPEXPSLJOHPSEFSBOETFBUBSNSFTUTBSF Norkevicius states: “We are using 3D PQFSBUJOHQSPQFSMZ"EEJUJPOBMBUUFOUJPOJTQBJEUPQSFNJVNDBCJOTFBUT printing in several areas; one of them is to address quick repair needs on seating $BSQFUTFBUUSBDLTBSFBEESFTTFEPOBOPODPOEJUJPOCBTJT"MMUIFMJHIUTBOE parts, to overcome long lead times.” 1$6T QPXFSDPOUSPMVOJUT BSFBMTPBUUFOEFEUPEVSJOHUIJTDIFDLJO BEEJUJPOUP While 3D printing can reduce AOG PWFSIFBETUPXBHFCJOTBOEBJSDSBGUMBWBUPSJFT [aircraft on ground] fees, it is still rath- h*OBMM UIFDSFXXJMMTQFOEBGVMMFJHIUIPVSTJOUIFDBCJOBOEBEESFTTBOBWFS er costly and has so far proved to be BHFPGJOEJWJEVBMJTTVFTQFSWJTJU5IJTBUUFOUJPOUPEFUBJMJTXIBUTFQBSBUFT economically feasible only for prototype UIFPWFSBMMDVTUPNFSFYQFSJFODFGSPNUIFJSDPNQFUJUJPO v4UBGGPSETBZT or very low volume parts.

RAPID INTERVENTION Hendrik Rybicki, corporate communications manager at Hamburg-based Vartan Product Support, says that its part in scheduled maintenance “is more or less a service function. We assist airlines and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) organisations when they either have too few staff to carry out necessary repairs and maintenance or when they have a lack of certiﬁ ed

26 Airline Ground Services Summer 2018 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com

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out scheduled overhauls and repairs of LOOKING AFTER VIPS bigger components like complete galleys or lavatories. 5IFJOUFSJPSTPGCVTJOFTTBOEDPSQPSBUFKFUTOFFEMPPLJOHBGUFSBOESFQBJSJOH KVTU Rybicki adds: “Our on-site support BTNVDIBTDPNNFSDJBMBJSDSBGUPQFSBUJOHTDIFEVMFETFSWJDFT TBZT1FUFS(VO capability list covers almost any prod- ÆTPO PQFSBUJPOTEJSFDUPSBU11"-JNJUFE CBTFEJOOPSUIFBTU8B MFT uct in aircraft cabins; the list goes from &WFODPSQPSBUFKFUPXOFSTBSFOPUBMXBZTBTDBSFGVMBTZPVNJHIUUIJOLh:PV window panels though passenger seats XPVMECFTVSQSJTFEBUTPNFPGUIFEBNBHFZPVHFUTPNFUJNFTUIJOHTOFFESF from all classes and entire galleys up to QBJSJOHJOQMBDFTUIBUZPVXPVMEOUFYQFDUUPTFF5IFSFJTJNQBDUEBNBHF UIJOHT in-fl ight entertainment systems. With BSFTDSBUDIFEBOETPPO v(VOTPOTUBUFT this background, we can easily add *OUIFDPSQPSBUFKFUXPSME NBOZDPNQPOFOUTBSFOPUBWBJMBCMFPGGUIFTIFMG PG trained staff to maintenance events that DPVSTF TPBOPUIFSPG11"TDBQBCJMJUJFTJTASFWFSTFFOHJOFFSJOH WBDVVNGPSNJOH are needed for certain products, so that DPNQPOFOUTTVDIBTTFBUCBDLTBOETFBUBSNTh8FLFFQNBOZPGUIFNPVMET we are able to offer maintenance, repair UIBUXFNBLF JODBTFUIFZSFOFFEFEBHBJO v(VOTPOFYQMBJOT and overhaul services for almost any cabin product and equipment.” *UJTQPTTJCMFUIBU%QSJOUJOHXJMMCFVTFENPSFJOUIFTFDUPSJOGVUVSF (VOTPO As Vartan holds an EASA part 145 DPOTJEFST BMUIPVHIUIFUFDIOJRVFnBUMFBTUBTJUDVSSFOUMZTUBOETnIBTJUTMJNJUB certifi cate, its services are primar- UJPOTh:PVDPVMEOUEPQFSGFDUMZPQUJDBMXJOEPXT GPSFYBNQMF BOEFWFODPNQPT ily requested by European operators in JUFJUFNTXPVMECFBDIBMMFOHF)PXFWFS JUNJHIUJOGVUVSFIBWFBSPMFGPSTPNF Europe: airlines from other countries TNBMMDPNQPOFOUTv normally need other maintenance certifi cations. In the last few months, the and trained mechanics for certain company has worked for customers in components or assemblies.” the Czech Republic, Lithuania, North- He adds: “We are called by airlines ern Ireland, the Netherlands and Swit- when they experience time-critical zerland. situations, for instance an aircraft-on- However, Vartan is also working on ground situation. When an aircraft is obtaining a US Federal Aviation Agency grounded or an airline realises that they (FAA) part 145 certifi cate – expected in need quick repairs, our rapid interven- the next few months – that will enable tion team can be deployed worldwide it to serve customers in the US and all very quickly and then helps airlines or those who operate under FAA regula- MROs manage urgent maintenance or tion. repairs.” At the moment, Vartan is purely Vartan offers its services both di- project oriented, which means working Vartan offers its services both rectly in the fi eld at customers’ bases on individual projects according to cus- JOUIFlFMEBOEBUJUTPXO and workshops and at its own mainte- tomer demand. However, says Rybicki: maintenance shop in Hamburg – nance shop in Hamburg – and will soon “We are currently evaluating whether and will soon do the same in Seattle do the same in Seattle. It mainly carries to expand our services to continuous

28 Airline Ground Services Summer 2018 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com

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cabin maintenance, repair and overhaul for airlines. In this model, one or two mechanics, depending on aircraft size and number and When an aircraft is grounded or an airline the scope of the respective contract, would be realises that they need quick repairs, our rapid permanently assigned to an airline’s base. They intervention team can be deployed worldwide would take care of all line maintenance as well very quickly as cosmetic cabin repairs.” Hendrik Rybicki, corporate communications manager, One evident trend is that, with increased Vartan Product Support competition, carriers have put much greater emphasis on individuality in the cabin over the last decade or two, Rybicki adds. Indeed: “Cab- in design is a statement because the cabin is the most important impression and visual point of reference of an airline for passengers. Airlines increasingly put emphasis on their individual cabin product and on keeping their cabins’ visual impression tidy and clean.” Standard aircraft checks maintain technical functions, but not necessarily the cabin’s visual appearance, he argues. Decor surfaces, such as window panels or lavatories, often look dirty or scratched long before major maintenance events and Vartan is keeping an eye on the growth potential in this area too.

Vartan mainly carries out scheduled overhauls and repairs of bigger components like complete galleys or lavatories

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www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com Summer 2018 Airline Ground Services 29

24-29 Cabin repair AGS-SUM18.indd 29 03/04/2018 11:57 LOAD CONTROL COMPLEX CALCULATIONS $FOUSBMJTFEMPBEDPOUSPMTZTUFNT $-$ PGGFSTFWFSBMCFOFlUTUPBJSMJOFT BOEBOFXEBUBTIBSJOH QMBUGPSNDVSSFOUMZJOEFWFMPQNFOUCZ*"5"DPVMEUBLFUIFNUPUIFOFYUMFWFM

oting that an airline’s Nick Yeadon, CEO of Air Dispatch ous, and process failure or human er- main focus is on providing CLC (part of the dnata group), believes ror can still occur. Open reporting of all a quality service to its the advantages of CLC boil down to two such incidents leads to improvements – customers while achieving things beyond cost saving: safety and and airlines with CLC have access to a better margins, a quality. great deal of information in this respect Nspokesperson for Global Load Control “With a manual approach to load as safety report rates are higher. Plus, (GLC – part of the Lufthansa Group), control you have lots of different in- training needs are reduced, helping to says that fi nding organisations that terpretations; for instance with an air- save an airline money. dedicate all their resources to addressing Yeadon goes on: “Traditionally, Tier indirect activities like load control is a “WBIC will improve safety. This 1 airlines have gone for these systems way for airlines to reduce costs and risk but more and more are using them – JTBIVHFCFOFlU'PSJOTUBODF impact to their core business. including regional airlines and low-cost JUXJMMCFQPTTJCMFUPDFSUJGZ Furthermore: “Centralised models data through the platform to carriers. for load control better respond to the im- “Some airlines that in-source the BWPJEJODPSSFDU.508 mediate needs of operations of an airline product (that is, use their own staff to .BTTJNP$JDFUUJ NBOBHFS HSPVOE while using data fl ows to understand the PQFSBUJPOTUBOEBSET "1$4 run it) are looking at outsourcing it opportunities for improvement in cost now so they can concentrate on their and risk and guide managers’ decisions.” core business,” he says, echoing the GLC The GLC spokesperson goes on: craft flying from a hub to an outstation spokesperson. “Cost saving and risk mitigation being you might load the baggage in the for- Currently, there is a small number of the most apparent [benefi ts], the cost ward and rear, which means two high dedicated suppliers of CLC, with a few aspect can be cascaded into areas such as loaders would be required. At the hub newer ones on the edge of the market. It labour, infrastructural and optimisation at peak time you might have a single is a relatively new service that has come opportunity cost. The risks are mitigated unloading team, or there might only about with the advancement of IT, and by passing it on to an expert of that spe- be one high loader available, slowing adoption of this way of working is in- cifi c process with robust business con- down the baggage delivery and trans- creasing fast. tingencies and certifi cation practices. fer times; the CLC can plan for the “It’s a big change and people don’t “What surprises most of our custom- baggage to be in single hold, speeding want to just jump into it,” Yeadon re- ers is how a greater operational stabil- up the hub operation. marks. “Shifting to centralised load con- ity is passed on to the airline – and this “One process, with all outstations trol may mean asking staff for a process needs a centralised platform to oversee complying, is better. Compliance with change that doesn’t directly benefi t them and conduct the necessary process dis- airline policy is better enforced through but globally, it will benefi t the whole cipline required to drive the expected ef- CLC; it also enables more monitoring of process, providing greater transparency. fi ciencies and standardisation to get the staff and processes,” he points out. But airlines want to make the change, so full value of the model.” Training for load control is oner- it is starting to happen.”

30 "JSMJOF(SPVOE4FSWJDFTSummer 2018 XXXBHTBJSMJOFHSPVOETFSWJDFTDPN

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NEXT STEP for the summer or buying an aircraft The International Air Transport from another carrier don’t necessarily Association’s (IATA’s) Weight & Balance have their own weight and balance en- Information Centre (WBIC) constitutes gineers, so they buy that service in. You an important step in efforts to move the need fewer engineers if you run CLC,” industry forward. he points out. In a nutshell, WBIC seeks to address The GLC spokesperson adds that the challenges of entering, maintaining aviation has adopted automation in and distributing AHM565 data (aircraft many areas of its value chain, and the data for weights and balance) by consoli- distinction between what can be system dating reliable data in one location and run and what needs human problem format using cloud technology in order solving is becoming blurred. to deliver time and cost savings through Still: “Skilled staff are the eyes and the elimination of ineffi cient data distri- ears of the CLC. They need to be aware bution. of weight and balance and the implica- Through WBIC, an airline will be tions of getting it wrong,” Yeadon says. able to update data pertaining to a par- “That includes dangerous goods separa- ticular aircraft in one place and make 0OFQSPDFTT XJUIBMM tion, the importance of communicating it available to its service providers any- PVUTUBUJPOTDPNQMZJOH JT information to the CLC (a two-way pro- where in the world where that aircraft is CFUUFS$PNQMJBODFXJUIBJSMJOF cess), and checking that information on operating, outlines Steve Savage, senior QPMJDZJTCFUUFSFOGPSDFE the load plan matches the actual loading analyst – ground operations, airport, through CLC of the aircraft.” passenger, cargo and security (APCS) at /JDL:FBEPO $&0 s%FUBJMFEJOGPSNBUJPOSFHBSEJOH8#*$NBZCFGPVOEBU IATA. WBIC will thus provide the data "JS%JTQBUDI$-$ IUUQTXXXZPVUVCFDPNXBUDI W that feeds CLC. [-NH+7EXGFBUVSFZPVUVCF Massimo Cicetti, manager, ground operation standards, APCS (also at IATA), explains further: “Currently pa- per documents are used to share data between aircraft manufacturers, airlines and system providers. WBIC is a platform for all this data that will be safe and straightforward.” The concept started in September 2016 at the LCAM (IATA’s Load Con- trol and Aircraft Messaging task force) meeting. Launch of the platform will hopefully take place in late 2018 or early 2019. Cicetti says: “WBIC will improve safety. This is a huge benefi t. For instance, it will be possible to certify data through the platform to avoid incorrect MTOW (maximum take-off weight). “The project will also simplify, streamline and render more effi cient the process of load control, by moving it from manual to electronic methods. The aim is to implement one standard through one platform instead of nu- Rsmart Ad Space merous spreadsheets – so complex calculations can be done in real time with qtr page no delays. “WBIC is a fascinating, useful and might need to imaginative new idea,” Yeadon considers. “This is part of the changes happening in weight and balance, which used to WZHDNVSDFHWRÀW be a dusty area but is becoming a focus now. The development of IT has allowed ad design this as CLC can deal with more complex calculations and separations these days – but there is a need for detailed data. “WBIC brings a lot of information into one place. It’s not likely to be attractive to Tier I airlines, but Tier II or III carriers that are leasing an aircraft

XXXBHTBJSMJOFHSPVOETFSWJDFTDPN Summer 2018 "JSMJOF(SPVOE4FSWJDFT31

30-31 LoadControl AGS-SUM18.indd 31 03/04/2018 18:48 VIP LOUNGES

GREAT EXPECTATIONS First-class passengers expect to be bombarded with luxury items when they enter an airport lounge, but that’s no longer enough to satisfy their whims, writes David Smith

esigners today have to think have to cater for today’s obsessions with of more sophisticated ways ‘natural’ environments and personal to offer up the ‘exclusivity’ wellbeing. The methods of achieving that is the hallmark of a fi rst- this goal include using natural materi- class lounge. Alex Duncan, als, installing daylight lighting and pro- Da lounge designer with London-based viding rooftop gardens. Passengers may consultancy James Park Associates (JPA still expect maître d’ service and cham- Design), says there is more competition pagne bars, but they will also now insist than ever before and designers have to on healthy fresh food options, as well as think imaginatively to stay ahead. access to gyms, massage therapies and “Luxury lounges still must have spa facilities. the list of conventional attributes that “Part of JPA’s design work is to help wealthy passengers would fi nd in a fi ve- map out those experiences, creating star hotel, which provides a sense of the stage on which the service can be opulence and exclusivity. They expect a acted out. We’re very much about the luxurious lounge decor and they want physical environment and its prac- to be bombarded by temptations, such ticalities, but we also have to think as goody bags, spa treatments and fi ne about what it feels like to be in that dining. But expectations have evolved in space,” says Duncan. the past few years and it’s now as much The movement towards creating natu- about the types of experience we can of- ral environments is seen worldwide. One fer them,” he says. striking example is in the Qantas First Trends in lounge design are strong- For us, one of the keys is to Class Lounge at Sydney International Air- ly infl uenced by what’s happening in create a sense of occasion. port, where the tropical botanist Patrick wider society, and modern designers That’s easier to achieve in Blanc installed 8,400 plants and Euro- the luxury train and cruise ship markets, as passengers go on the journey for the journey itself Alex Duncan, JPA Design

JPA designed Air China’s Hongqiao lounge

32 Airline Ground Services Summer 2018 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com

32-37 VIP lounges AGS-SUM18.indd 32 03/04/2018 12:32 VIP LOUNGES

Club Aspire, designed by ALD, at London Heathrow’s Terminal 3 fi rst-class lounge at Changi Airport to be more like a fi ve-star hotel. A decade later, JPA began creating lounges for Middle Eastern airlines, as well as developing 10 luxury lounges for Air China in major Chinese cities. Today, its customers include Singapore Airlines, Ameri- can Airlines, Air China, Cathay Pacifi c, Dragonair, Gulf Air, US Airways, Oman Air and Japan Airlines.

THE ‘WOW’ FACTOR “For us, one of the keys is to create a sense of occasion,” Duncan explains. “That’s easier to achieve in the luxury train and cruise ship markets, as passengers go on the journey for the journey itself. But we try to capture some of that experience in airport lounges so that when passengers return from Italy they’re not just talking about Pompeii. They say, ‘Wow, you pean oak sculptures decorate the relaxa- the carriages of the Venice Simplon Ori- should have seen the lounge. I’m never tion spaces. Similarly, Cathay Airlines Pier ent Express luxury train. It went on to fl ying with anyone else’.” Business Class Lounge in Hong Kong create other train interiors, whilst at the To achieve a sense of occasion it is es- invites passengers to enter through the same time developing a reputation as a sential to create a strong sense of place, Tea House, described as a “wellness area” designer of luxury hotels, including sev- he continues. This involves researching, where passengers can relax while special- eral projects for Taj Hotels. in depth, the culture of the national air- ists serve a wide selection of teas. It wasn’t until 1998 that JPA en- lines – a process that can take several JPA Design did not start life as an tered the aviation sector, fi rst planning a months. JPA then subtly introduces el- airport lounge developer. Its fi rst job, fi rst-class cabin and seats for Singapore ements of the architecture, cuisine, and back in 1982, was to provide a design for Airlines, then redesigning the carrier’s artistic legacy into its designs.

www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com Summer 2018 Airline Ground Services 33

32-37 VIP lounges AGS-SUM18.indd 33 03/04/2018 12:32 VIP LOUNGES

The bar in the Gulf Air Falcon Gold lounge at Æ London Heathrow’s Terminal 4, designed by JPA

fi ed in the past decade, says Errol Mc- in the US, and a further two in the UK. First-class passengers use Glothan, director at Airport Lounge De- They are available to holders of Priority many of our independent velopment (ALD), which is part of the Pass and other premium products, as lounges and we offer lots of Collinson Group, and owns the largest well as travellers with 25 partner airlines products that elite passengers network of independent lounges in the and pay-as-you-go passengers. would expect US. “Lounges today are barely recognis- “The market has become highly so- Errol McGlothan, director, ALD able as the same product as 15 years ago. phisticated as a result of providing more There are so many services that are cus- choice. It means it’s diffi cult to make tomised to the needs of passengers,” he simple distinctions about what is a luxu- For example, for the Gulf Air Falcon points out. ry lounge. There are so many gray areas,” Gold lounge at Terminal 4 Heathrow, One way in which the lounge mar- says McGlothan. “First-class passengers there are echoes of the geometric forms ket has changed, he argues, is that the use many of our independent lounges of Bahraini architecture and fi nishes idea of luxury is no longer the preserve and we offer lots of products that elite relating to Bahrain’s history of pearl of fi rst-class lounges. There has been passengers would expect, such as spas, fi shing. The intimate entrance and big explosive growth in the development designated zones for different passen- courtyard also mirror the style of Arab of common-use lounges that can be ac- ger requirements, and the sense of place dwellings, Duncan says. JPA Design’s cessed by anyone who pays a fee on the that comes from local art and local chefs. projects for Air China echo Chinese cul- door. Many of them offer services that I steer away from saying what’s premium ture in similar ways. For example, both would once have been considered luxu- and what’s not premium as it’s more nu- the 20,000ft2 business class lounge and ries, such as spas, gyms, hotel rooms, anced than that.” the 7,000ft2 fi rst-class lounge at Shang- local menus from top chefs and indig- One of ALD’s US lounges, The Club hai Pudong Airport include Chinese tex- enous art. MCO at Orlando International Airport, tiles and colours that allude to those of Even within the common-use lounge has won acclaim for its business facili- Air China’s branding. market, there are different products, ties, including individual rooms for pri- The pressure on designers to distin- some more exclusive than others. ALD vate phone calls. The Club MCO offers guish their luxury products has intensi- has a network of 15 independent lounges a Kids Zone, Refresh Zone, Rest Zone

34 Airline Ground Services Summer 2018 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com

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32-37 VIP lounges AGS-SUM18.indd 35 03/04/2018 12:32 VIP LOUNGES

and Replenish Zone. Meanwhile, The restaurants and staying in fi ve-star ho- Club BWI, at Baltimore-Washington tels,” points out John Lau, MD of Firefl y International Airport, offers comple- Lighting, which provided the lighting mentary items and services such as a Whole communities of for the Cathay Pacifi c Hong Kong fi rst- buffet with an antipasto deli bar, a pre- bloggers and vloggers travel class and business lounges. “They can’t miumÆ selection of alcohol and use of the world reviewing lounges on afford to fall short of their rivals’ lounges business facilities. social media as it would mean bad publicity. Whole McGlothan says that many of the +PIO-BV .% 'JSFmZ-JHIUJOH communities of bloggers and vloggers global trends in lounge facilities were initi- travel the world reviewing lounges on ated by the Virgin Clubhouse, in London, social media.” which set new standards by incorporating Lau and his team work closely with a spa, a luxurious bar, and table service in architects and interior designers to cre- 1993. Virgin has trialled all kinds of ideas Meanwhile, Etihad First Class ate the right feeling. There are separate over the years, such as billiard tables, hot Lounge and Spa at Abu Dhabi Inter- solutions for different materials and for tubs, drive-through check-ins and dedi- national Airport introduces a note of each zone. Lighting controls provide cated security lines. Whenever these ideas excess by taking the concept of separate fl exibility depending on the season and have appealed to passengers the industry lounge ‘zones’ to another level. It offers time of day. has taken them up. 16 unique areas, including an à la carte Lau says the company’s lighting “Virgin has always been a pioneering restaurant, fi tness room, cigar lounge, strategy for lounges is distinct from its brand that has shown how to improve spa, style and shave barbers, nail bar, approach in restaurants. “When we de- the experience of premium passengers,” TV room, secluded relaxation room, and sign lighting for restaurants we’re nudg- McGlothan says. children’s play room. ing the guests towards ‘mindless con- The facilities at Turkish Airlines’ sumption’ by reducing their cognitive EXTRAVAGANT CIP Lounge at Ataturk International awareness of expenditure so they’re just Despite the rising standards of luxury Airport, in Istanbul, strike a compara- being in the moment. With lounges, it’s in common-use lounges, there are still ble note of extravagant luxury. The two- far more about creating a relaxed and airline lounges that take the concept of storey lounge features 5,000ft2 of fl at luxurious ambience,” he says. exclusivity to another level. screen TVs, a cinema room, and live mu- Lau understands the tastes of One important element is the quality sic from two grand pianos. Kids also get wealthy, fi rst-class passengers, but he of the furnishings. Passengers in Emir- their own playroom, whilst adults are does not necessarily share them. When ates’ fi rst class lounge at Dubai Airport, offered a golf simulator, a movie mara- he travelled fi rst-class with Emirates for example, bask in an opulent envi- thon, or relaxation in their own private from Heathrow Airport, he was picked ronment that has Italian marble fl oors, suite. Free-roaming masseuses provide up from his house in a limousine and gold-plated clocks from Geneva, design- complementary massages. taken directly to the lounge at Heathrow. er showers and bathrooms. And Qatar “These lounges have to be pretty spe- “Personally, I found it weirdly isolating Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge at cial as the clientele are paying US$8,000, even though it takes all the stress out Hamad International Airport in Doha, or even more, for their tickets. After all, of it. The fi rst-class lounges tend to be Qatar, has a ceiling-to-fl oor crystal where are these people spending time more sparsely populated, too. But I can chandelier that hangs over a beautiful when they’re not at airports? They understand why some people get used to refl ecting pool. would be eating in Michelin-starred that level of exclusivity,” he says.

The Qantas First Class Lounge at Sydney International Airport is part of a trend for creating ‘natural’ environments in VIP lounges

36 Airline Ground Services Summer 2018 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com

32-37 VIP lounges AGS-SUM18.indd 36 03/04/2018 12:32 32-37 VIP lounges AGS-SUM18.indd 37 03/04/2018 12:32 IATA RESOLUTION 753 READY OR NOT… IATA Resolution 753 on baggage tracking is intended to encourage airlines to reduce mishandling by implementing cross-industry tracking for every baggage journey. It comes into effect on 1 June 2018; is the industry prepared?

esolution 753 (R753) pliant with R753? It is directed at air- stipulates four key tracking lines; airports technically don’t have to points in the baggage do anything. Some carriers are saying journey: the fi nes for not complying are still less than the cost of being compliant. This R• Passenger handover to the airline is contentious, and runs counter to the • Loading to the aircraft spirit of the agreement – which is to do • Delivery to the transfer area this as an industry,” he points out. • Return to the passenger So far uptake of the initiative is somewhat hit and miss. Some carri- While the resolution may seem sim- ers that are trying to prepare may not ple, it poses several questions. be ready in time, and others are not on David Kennedy, president and CEO board at all. Still others, though, are in- of Quantum Aviation Solutions, out- sisting on implementation of baggage lines: “At the highest level, we have to $MJGG#VSDIlFMEPG tracking systems in advance of the June Brock Solutions ask what is compliant. Each airline has deadline, Burchfi eld says. to interpret and implement R753 in its own way. Currently bags may not be scanned at some points. Now, airlines So far uptake of the initiative will have to scan all bags at certain touch is somewhat hit and miss. points.” Some carriers that are trying But will an airline be considered to prepare may not be ready compliant purely on the basis of its in time, and others are not on home hub being certifi ed under R753, board at all for instance? A second issue is infrastructure, which may require substantial invest- more cost-effective option where bag ment. Barcode scanning provides a more volumes (and consequently, data vol- cost-effective solution than RFID track- umes) are low. ing, while XML or MQSeries allows “Cellular data and cloud comput- direct messaging between stakeholders ing have now reached a level of sophis- Quantum’s David Kennedy (at no cost, once set up) so that tracking tication and maturity where we can data can be shared as necessary. use them in our industry to create mo- Kennedy notes a trend towards pas- The cost of tracking technology has bile, dynamic scanning applications for senger expectation for good tracking fallen substantially in the last decade or tracking and scanning that we didn’t across the industry. “Most big IATA two. Historically, a WiFi network would have fi ve years ago,” he observes. carriers are trying to improve their bag- have been required – a costly piece of Just the visibility alone that tracking gage performance with or without R753 infrastructure to install. Now cellular allows can reduce lost/mishandled bag- anyway,” he says. “Outside of R753 some networks are often used, especially in gage incidents (and costs) signifi cantly. carriers have invested heavily, so they’re less developed countries; Quantum has Plus: “Through a mobile passenger- set up already.” developed this “lighter” sort of baggage facing recovery process, we can get im- Burchfi eld points out that “some tracking solution at some smaller sta- mediate feedback about what the pas- ground handling agreements are quite tions, Kennedy confi rms. senger wants to do with their bag. This long, and no one wants to renegotiate Cliff Burchfi eld, responsible for can shorten repatriation of the bag by a their contracts, so there’s stalemate in business development at Brock Solu- day or two, resulting in a smaller claim,” some cases. Part of this problem is that tions, further explains that while WiFi Burchfi eld explains. handlers already feel under a lot of pres- solutions are well suited to high vol- Kennedy goes on to ask: “What are sure to do everything for nothing,” he umes of traffi c, cellular networks are a the implications if tracking is not com- remarks.

38 Airline Ground Services Summer 2018 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com

38-39 R753 AGS-SUM18.indd 38 03/04/2018 15:07 #AGSNS18

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38-39 R753 AGS-SUM18.indd 39 03/04/2018 15:07 TECHNOLOGY

Gatwick airport increased its capacity by implementing Amadeus’s A-CDM Portal

BETTER INTERACTION Martin Courtney looks at how adopting digital collaboration and consumer technology is key UPJNQSPWJOHPQFSBUJPOBMFGlDJFODZGPSBJSMJOFT BJSQPSUTBOEHSPVOEIBOEMFST

onsumer technology moves on how best to exploit social media for later in 2017. The idea is to give airlines, at a bewildering pace that their own purposes, particularly when it manufacturers, component suppliers few industries can keep comes to identifying customers through and maintenance, repair and overhaul up with, but there are business intelligence. (MRO) fi rms, a way to facilitate two-way signifi cant rewards for But while they may baulk at the fl ow of data across their disparate IT sys- Ccompanies able to adapt innovative tools prospect of using existing, consumer- tems using a combination of GE’s Predix for specifi c business purposes. Social orientated social media tools as an ef- analytics software and Capgemini’s im- media tools have been used widely used fective means of collecting and sharing plementation services. in aviation to date for example, but information in real time, aviation com- Accenture, too, is focused on im- primarily for recruitment purposes or as panies are now coming to recognise the proving operational effi ciency in the a means for passengers to express their benefi ts that similar forms of digital col- aviation industry by breaking down si- dissatisfaction. laboration platforms can bring if imple- los amongst airlines, airports, ground The latter trend has not gone un- mented and managed correctly. handlers and other stakeholders. Whilst noticed by airline and airport customer Last year saw GE Aviation’s Digital most projects to date have concentrated service and marketing departments, Solutions division create a digital col- on improving customer-facing commu- which now routinely monitor leading laboration centre in partnership with nications like websites and mobile apps, social media sites like Facebook and French IT consulting specialist Capgem- Accenture recognises that enabling im- Twitter – on the one hand to keep track ini, for example. Initially designed to proved digital collaboration between of their reputational status, but also as a provide GE’s own staff with a more ef- those elements has been largely over- foundation for advertising and market- fi cient platform to communicate and looked. ing campaigns. Indeed there are avia- collaborate on development projects, “When a plane has to be towed, we tion software and consulting fi rms like the Confi guration Data Exchange centre have mechanics working, fl ight attend- AeroSDB in Australia which specialise was later made available for use by the ants working, a gate attendant,” says in offering aviation stakeholders advice company’s aviation industry customers one airline executive interviewed as part

40 Airline Ground Services Summer 2018 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com

40-45 Tech AGS-SUM18.indd 40 03/04/2018 15:08 Contact the Zafire team today:

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of Accenture’s digital readiness study. stakeholders work in silos using tel- mation from all over the company and in “Right now, they do not communicate ephones, email, telex and walkie-talkies turn must provide a similar volume of in- as a team. I’d love everyone to have the to communicate.” formation to other parts of the business,” same information and be collaborating”. Six customers are currently using says Toni Pagliccia, operations support Logbook, including pan-European air- manager at ASL Airlines France. DEOLANÆ LOGBOOK: DIGITAL line ASL, Biarritz Airport, Portuguese “Previously all of this information COLLABORATION POTENTIAL ground handling company Portway was sent over email, which meant we A good example of where that sort Group and Dutch airline Transavia (a were frequently overwhelmed by the of information sharing is making a subsidiary of Air France-KLM Group). number of messages that need to be re- real difference comes from French viewed and sent every day. Logbook has air transport specialist Deolan, which THE ASL EXPERIENCE helped us to solve this issue, through launched a new interactive platform, ASL needed to replace the internal giving us a single point where we can re- Logbook, in November 2017. The plug- system it was using to keep track of cord all the information relating to past, and-play tool has been designed to delays and customer complaints, having current and future flights, for access by replace the numerous legacy systems previously relied on the ServiceNow IT other departments across the business.” still used in the aviation industry, service management (ITSM) platform Ten of ASL’s operational and con- including standard word processor and which the airline’s IT department had trol centre staff currently access the email applications, whilst providing the decided to scrap at the end of 2017. SaaS application from a mixture of look, feel and real-time collaborative Presented with the option of either desktop and laptop PCs, feeding the aspects of social media tools. building its own collaboration solution software with flight schedule informa- “We have created a sort of Facebook internally, or bringing in an alternative tion which is shared with the flight da- for operators, where all the different solution from an external provider, ASL tabase via Deolan. teams can put news about each event decided to trial Deolan’s Logbook ap- “One way that I have found Log- they are dealing with which can be plication. Though Logbook was initially book particularly useful is in enabling shared instantly either inside or outside intended only to support ASL’s delay me to log fuel information for future the team,” says Yves Tuet, Deolan found- and customer complaint management flights,” says Pagliccia. “Previously I er and president. process, the airline soon realised the would have saved that [fuel confirma- “The growth of airlines depends on SaaS proposition offered scope to pro- tion] document in my emails, meaning them having digital collaboration tools,” vide more features, particularly in terms there is a chance that it could get lost he goes on. “In airport traffic control of centralising event information for its or forgotten before the flight date. With [and] in ground handling operations, operations team. Logbook, I can initiate a fuel log for a you have hundreds of thousands of “As the hub for all ground handling later date, with the document attached flights a year to deal with but they are operations, the Operational Control and all the confirmation details, include still low-tech environments where the Centre receives high volumes of infor- the correct tag, and that means that it’s ISSUES :BOOJDL#FVOBSEFBV HMPCBMIFBEPGTBMFTBOENBSLFUJOH "JSQPSU*5BU"NBEFVT *5(SPVQ PGGFSTBOBMUFSOBUJWFQFSTQFDUJWFPOUIFJNQMFNFOUBUJPOPGDPMMBCPSB- UJPOTPMVUJPOTPOBDBTFCZDBTF EFQBSUNFOUBMCBTJT h"UUIFBJSQPSUUIFSFBSFOVNFSPVTTUBLFIPMEFSTUIBUBMMQMBZBSPMFJOTFSWJDJOH BmJHIUBOECPBSEJOHQBTTFOHFST XIFUIFSJUTUIFSFGVFMMJOHQSPWJEFS UIFDBUFS- JOHDPNQBOZPSUIFHSPVOEIBOEMJOHBHFOUTFSWJOHQBTTFOHFST vIFTBZTh5IBUT why we believe in creating a common situational awareness amongst all actors BUUIFBJSQPSU BOEJOPVSWJFXQBSUJBMTPMVUJPOTBUBEFQBSUNFOUBMMFWFMDBOPOMZ FWFSCFWJFXFEBTJUFSBUJWFXIFOTUSJWJOHGPSUIJTMBSHFSHPBMv "NBEFVTT"$%.1PSUBMQSPWJEFTBOZBDUPSBUUIFBJSQPSUXJUIBTJOHMF VOJ- lFEWJFXJOUPUIFDVSSFOUBOEGVUVSFPQFSBUJOHFOWJSPONFOU CPUIMBOETJEFBOE BJSTJEF "DDPSEJOHUP#FVOBSEFBV CZSPMMJOHPVUUIFDPNQBOZT"$%.1PSUBMUP PWFSEJGGFSFOUVTFST -POEPO(BUXJDL"JSQPSUJODSFBTFEJUTDBQBDJUZUP mJHIUTQFSIPVSnXIJDIFRVBUFTUPBOBEEJUJPOBMNJMMJPOQBTTFOHFSTmZJOHGSPN JUTTJOHMFSVOXBZ )FHPFTPOh4IBEPX*5JTBOJTTVFJOBMNPTUFWFSZJOEVTUSZUPEBZ HJWFOUIBU DMPVEBOE4BB4*5DBOCFQVSDIBTFEBOEVTFERVJDLMZBOETJNQMZ5IFSFTBSFBM EJTUJODUJPOUPCFNBEF IPXFWFS CFUXFFOAQSPEVDUJWJUZTPGUXBSFUIBUIFMQTBE- ESFTTPGlDFCBTFEPCKFDUJWFTMJLFBDDPVOUJOH BOEDPNQMFYCVTJOFTTQSPDFTTTPMV- UJPOTUIBUSVOBOBJSQPSUTPQFSBUJPOT*UTVOMJLFMZUIBUTIBEPX*5TPMVUJPOTXPVME be appropriate for a use case such as collaborative decision making at the air- QPSU XIJDISFRVJSFTTJHOJlDBOUTUBLFIPMEFSFOHBHFNFOU EFFQVOEFSTUBOEJOHPG UIFBJSQPSUTCVTJOFTTBOEIJHIMZTQFDJBMJTFEUFDIOPMPHZ h*OBEEJUJPOUPUIJT SFMJBCMFBOETFDVSFBJSQPSUPQFSBUJPOTSFMZPOTFDVSFBOE SFMJBCMFEBUBBOE*54PTIBEPX*5DPVMEQPTFBSJTLJOUIBUSFTQFDU HJWFOUIBUUIF BJSMJOFTBOETFSWJDFQSPWJEFSTXPVMEOPUUBLFBOZMJBCJMJUZGPSVTBHFPGTIBEPX*5 JOUIFDPOUFYUPGSVOOJOHNJTTJPODSJUJDBMCVTJOFTTBQQMJDBUJPOTv

42 Airline Ground Services Summer 2018 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com

40-45 Tech AGS-SUM18.indd 42 03/04/2018 15:08 TECHNOLOGY

ASL decided to trial Deolan’s Logbook application

Deolan’s Yves Tuet

there for anybody to check and verify And many are attracted not only by ow IT’ could account for 30-40% of to- the details.” the instant collaboration demonstrated tal IT spending in large enterprises, with by social media tools, but also by the Everest Group putting the fi gure even BOTTOM-UP APPROACH GETS simple, easy-to-use portals which enable higher at 50%. The bigger the company, THINGS DONE access to a broad range of on-demand, the bigger the problem as staff struggle to ASL’s use of Deolan’s Logbook is just pay-as-you-go IT resources that public access the resources they need to do their one illustration of where individual cloud services like Amazon Web Servic- jobs without the approval and assistance business departments and employees es, Microsoft Azure and Google, to name of the resident IT department – which are becoming more confi dent in the but a few, provide. can often take weeks or months to scope provisioning and management of their Research conducted by analyst fi rm and implement new systems, applica- own applications and services. Gartner has found that this form of ‘shad- tions and services on their behalf.

Contact usthe to arrange IGHCGoing in a Doha?meeting!to

Connecting the air transport industry Introducing Logbook A new plug and play collaboration tool to improve your everyday operations

Data sharing to avoid missing critical information

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www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com Summer 2018 Airline Ground Services 43

40-45 Tech AGS-SUM18.indd 43 03/04/2018 15:08 TECHNOLOGY

with PhocusWire, the company’s chief being used, and we are centralising PASSENGER executive Barbara Dalibord admitted information and secure access rights that traditional technologies embedded management.” AS DRIVER in the air transport industry “which SITA is also using the cloud to offer have been proven and reliable, have a virtual store – a place where airline, 0WFSBMM XIJMTU UIFSF BSF UFDIOJDBM been overtaken by new consumer-led airport and ground handling companies Æchallenges related to issues such as technologies”. can go to buy approved business applica- systems integration and legacy sys- Like other IT suppliers, SITA is tions and services in much the same way UFNT UIFSFBMJTTVFJTPOFPGDPMMBCP working hard to give IT departments the they would go to an app store to buy and SBUJPO #FVOBSEFBVGFFMT networks, systems, applications and ser- download Apple or Google apps for their h*OPVSSFDFOUSFQPSUA4USFOHUIFO vices they need to keep centralised con- smartphones. JOH UIF "JSQPSU 7BMVF 1SPQPTJUJPO trol over IT, whilst simultaneously sat- Global Wi-Fi connectivity app iPass 'SPTU 4VMMJWBO FYQMPSFE IPX BJS isfying end user demand for fast provi- was added in August, allowing custom- ports can harness digital transfor- sioning, simplifi ed access and improved ers in the air travel business to buy se- NBUJPO v IF TBZT 5IF SFQPSU BEWP usability involving everything from lap- cure, always-on access to the iPass Wi- DBUFT BO BQQSPBDI XIFSF *5 BGGFDUT tops and desktop PCs to smartphones, Fi network through the SITA portal, for UIFSPVUFDIPJDFTBJSMJOFTNBLF BOE tablets and other portable devices. example. Since its launch in 2016, SITA therefore is a competitive differentia- The cloud is an important part of has added 21 different applications and UPSGPSBJSQPSUT that service delivery platform; it is well services from suppliers including CCD By considering how technology designed to host data collected from Airport Kiosk, GCR, CD Networks, DBO JNQSPWF UIF QBTTFOHFS FYQFSJ various points on the SITA networks in Genaker and Dynatrace, as well as those ence and grow overall revenue for all a single central repository that makes it offered by SITA itself. TUBLFIPMEFST JU DSFBUFT B TIBSFE JO easier to share information across multi- Consumer-orientated devices are DFOUJWFGPSDPMMBCPSBUJPO XJUITIBSFE ple sources securely. also making their way onto the ramp. ,1*T CFUXFFO BJSMJOFT BOE BJSQPSUT Logbook is hosted on AWS public Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) worked n BOE CVTJOFTTFT DBTFT GPS JOOPWB cloud infrastructure with sensitive data with Asian ground handling and food UJPORVJDLMZTUBDLVQ #FVOBSEFBVFY stored locally on Deolan’s own servers solutions services company SATS to de- QMBJOT h$PMMBCPSBUJWF EFDJTJPO NBL to boost data security and comply with velop a smart watch solution for its tech- JOH QSPKFDUT BCTPMVUFMZ CFOFlUGSPN industry and government regulation on nical ramp operations. The Technical UBLJOHUIJTUZQFPGTUBODFv data protection. Ramp Smart Watch is currently in use “The cloud is now used in many at Singapore’s Changi Airport, provid- sensitive industries, even banking, and ing real-time job and task notifi cations Deolan’s Tuet is a fi rm believer that is much less expensive [compared to to workers whilst reducing reliance on a ‘bottom-up’ approach to provisioning licensed, on-premise software],” Tuet legacy walkie-talkie devices. Based on specifi c applications and services tai- points out. “We manage all the profi les Samsung’s S3 device, the watch provides lored for one particular task represents a and people accessing the data, starting GPS tracking of the ramp agents wear- much more effective strategy compared from the point where the information ing it and records the start and comple- to the ‘top-down’ strategy of designing, is initially shared. In many air trans- tion time of each job to provide perfor- implementing and managing a much port environments there is no security mance analytics for supervisors. larger all-in-one IT solution from a sin- at present because of the low-tech tools At the end of the day, aviation IT gle supplier. suppliers have little or no chance of “The problem we have is that some keeping up with the pace of innovation potential customers – the big ground in the consumer IT industry – but they handling companies and airport groups, do have second mover advantage in be- for example – are sometimes uncomfort- ing able to wait and see what works, able with trying and installing these in- and conducting limited staff rollouts dividual tools within their organisation, before pushing new technology further and that slows down adoption,” he says. up the chain. But others, particularly the smaller and medium-sized organisations, welcome the agility that tools like Logbook Tata Consultancy Services worked can provide and are much more recep- with Asian ground handler SATS to tive to the idea given that they can de- develop a smart watch solution for liver faster access to data. And once indi- its technical ramp operations vidual stations or airports start to realise the benefi ts, the solution can be rolled up the chain of larger organisations to encompass additional sites and business divisions.

SITA SEES CONSUMER INFLUENCE As a major supplier of IT and telecommunications services to the aviation industry, SITA is perhaps more familiar with this trend than most. Speaking in a recent interview Changi Airport – where SATS is using the Technical Ramp Smart Watch it developed with Tata

44 Airline Ground Services Summer 2018 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com

40-45 Tech AGS-SUM18.indd 44 03/04/2018 15:08 40-45 Tech AGS-SUM18.indd 45 03/04/2018 15:08 DISRUPTIVE PASSENGERS BLAZING A TRAIL

The UK Aviation Industry Code of Practice on Disruptive Passengers has implications for staff in many areas of the airport environment, including those who work for ground handling agents. Henk van Klaveren, senior public affairs and PR manager at the Airport Operators Association (AOA), explains why

ter an aircraft while drunk. Of course, es and types of disruption, and ground this puts a lot of pressure on the gate handlers need to be part of the chain of team, whether airline or ground han- responsibility. dling staff, who have to enforce such a For instance, at Glasgow Airport diffi cult decision. there is a ‘campus watch’ initiative in In terms of the airside impact of dis- place. Passengers who are becoming ruptive passengers, they may have to be disruptive in the airport are informed disembarked and their luggage unload- of the consequences of that behaviour ed before the fl ight can depart. This is (they might lose their fl ight, or even very rare: usually, such passengers are be sent to prison). Staff also share in- prevented from boarding – although, formation via WhatsApp to make gate they may only become disruptive dur- teams aware of disruptive passengers. ing the fl ight. In that case, they would Holiday fl ights to certain destina- be dealt with on landing. tions might present more frequent irports and airlines – and On inbound fl ights, we do see ar- problems. It might be necessary to tar- others in the aviation sec- rests in the UK when people land. The get people travelling on those fl ights us- tor – are dealing more police meet the aircraft at the gate and ing police presence or information from often with disruptive pas- ground handling staff have a support- ground staff to encourage responsible sengers. Ground handlers ing role there. drinking. Group travel parties might Aare perhaps not as close to the problem; However, the focus is much more on be treated in a similar way. This is re- they may get their information through outbound fl ights, which means at the source intensive, so it requires a risk the airport, for instance, but we at the gate and within the airport terminal; assessment based on data, followed by AOA want to make sure handlers get a retail, food and beverage outlets have a appropriate targeted action. wider picture of the issue. role, as does airport security. Another example: certain lounges There are only a few hundred inci- can have issues as passengers avail dents a year according to the UK Civil CHAIN OF RESPONSIBILITY themselves of free alcohol, so staff Aviation Authority (out of 268 million Ground handling agents should go to might be put in place to ensure respon- passengers), but these incidents can be their airlines and ask how they want sible limits are met. very disruptive to passengers, within disruptive passengers handled. The key point is to make passen- the airport in general and specifi cally at They should also talk to the airports gers aware of their responsibility, and the gate. regarding how their activities can fi t in to handle any issues that arise without The trail-blazing Disruptive Pas- with a campus-wide approach. Differ- affecting the travel experience for oth- sengers code is an attempt to tackle and ent airports have different circumstanc- er passengers. prevent these incidents, which are usually caused by excessive drinking. ABOUT THE CODE DIFFERENT ROLES At duty-free shops it is becoming more Supported by the UK Government, the voluntary UK Aviation Industry Code common for staff to write on customers’ of Practice on Disruptive Passengers was set up by the Airport Operators As- boarding passes that they have bought sociation, Airlines UK, the Airport Police Commanders Group, the Association alcohol, especially at high-risk times of of Licensed Multiple Retailers and the UK Travel Retail Forum. the day or week. It seeks to create a consistent approach that coordinates and enhances ex- But airports are increasingly draw- isting efforts to prevent and minimise disruptive passenger behaviour, which ing ground handling staff into their ef- can result in nuisance, annoyance or threats to passengers, crew and aircraft forts. safety – not to mention delays and costs. At the gate, there is an opportunity Currently, 24 UK airports are signatories to the code, as well as nine airlines. for the airline to test a person’s fi tness The full text of the code may be found at http://www.aoa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/The-UK- for fl ight. Disruptive passengers can be Aviation-Industry-Code-of-Practice-on-Disruptive-Passengers-FINAL.pdf denied boarding: it is an offence to en-

46 Airline Ground Services Summer 2018 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com

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46-47 AOA AGS-SUM18.indd 47 03/04/2018 15:11 LINE MAINTENANCE

A brand new A321 joined Wizz Air’s Luton base earlier this year

HORIZONS The general mood in aircraft line maintenance seems upbeat. Demand is high as the global mFFUDPOUJOVFTUPHSPXBOEDBSSJFSTJODSFBTJOHMZPVUTPVSDFUIFJS.30SFRVJSFNFOUT

im Bickley, general manager will be deployed there by June, taking fi nal-salary pension defi cits, which con- for line maintenance the total to eight. tinue to grow in size year on year – and at Monarch Aircraft Storm Aviation’s current pipeline is outsourcing can be seen a method to Engineering, notes that also strong as airlines try to save costs lower headcount and de-risk this. more and more operators through outsourcing. Ian Jones, head of “On the other hand, some airlines Jare seeking to fi x their direct operating sales, remarks: “It’s common knowledge take the strategic decision prefer to costs. As a result: “Since the demise of that many legacy carriers have huge keep everything in house as they pre- Monarch Airlines things are going well (we’d already been increasing third- party maintenance just in case).” SAFETY FIRST Among other developments, Mon- arch started providing line maintenance #JDLMFZTBZTMJOFNBJOUFOBODFJTOPNPSFPSMFTTEBOHFSPVTOPXUIBOJUIBTFWFS for China Airlines’ A350-900 XWB CFFO4JNQMZQVUh*UTBEBOHFSPVTFOWJSPONFOU OPEPVCUBCPVUJU4PNFNBJOUF when the carrier began fl ights from Tai- OBODFUBTLTIBWFCFDPNFTJNQMFSBOEUIFSFGPSFTBGFS EVFUPDIBOHFTJOBJSDSBGU pei to Gatwick in December last year. NBOVGBDUVSFSTEFTJHOT In addition: “Wizz Air will be fl ying )PXFWFSh*GZPVUIJOLTBGFUZJTBHJWFO ZPVNJHIUUBLFZPVSFZFPGGUIFCBMM v out of Luton soon with several based air- IFQPJOUTPVUh*UTBUUIFIFBSUPGXIBUXFEPv craft on UK AOCs, so we will actually be +POFT BHSFFT h0VS EJSFDUPS DPNQMJBODF BOE TBGFUZ n %BWJE $PQTF GPSNFSMZ busier than we were when Monarch was PGUIF6,$JWJM"WJBUJPO"VUIPSJUZBOENPTUSFDFOUMZUIFFYTBGFUZNBOBHFSGPS still fl ying.” .POBSDI"JSMJOFTnDPOUJOVFTUPGPDVTPOBMMBTQFDUTPGTBGFUZBOEIBTCVJMUBWFSZ Two brand new aircraft joined the TUSPOHUFBNBSPVOEIJNXIPBSFHJWFOUIFOFDFTTBSZUPPMTUPFOTVSFUIBUXFx Wizz Air fl eet at London Luton in March SFNBJOBUUIFJOEVTUSZGPSFGSPOUGPSQSFWFOUBUJWFTBGFUZNFBTVSJOHBOESFQPSUJOHv – an A320 and A321. Five more aircraft

48 Airline Ground Services Summer 2018 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com

48-51 LineMNTC AGS-SUM18.indd 48 03/04/2018 10:09 LINE MAINTENANCE

fer to feel in control of their own des- tenance stations in Amsterdam and tiny in terms of their maintenance,” he Palma de Mallorca,” Hollerbach high- observes. lights. Storm Aviation is embarking on a new relationship with Qatar Airways, he FLEXIBILITY confi rms; fi rst there will be a new daily He continues: “The mix of aircraft Boeing 787 service into Cardiff starting types in a customer fl eet is generally in May 2018, and there will be two more declining. Since airlines want to reduce locations to follow on Storm’s existing their complexity, they are reducing the line station network. number of different aircraft types in Additionally, in late October 2017 their fl eets. Challenges are more likely Storm Aviation secured a new three-year to arise from different engine types contract with easyJet to provide base in the same fl eet or from modernised maintenance services at London-Stanst- aircraft types such as the A320neo and ed’s Diamond Hangar – a new revenue its new engines”. stream for the company. Plus: “Airlines are becoming more Lufthansa Technik’s line mainte- and more demanding in meeting their nance division is also broadening its needs, particularly in terms of cost effi - horizons, says Ulrich Hollerbach, vice ciency, fl exibility in meeting their opera- president maintenance Europe and tional requirements (ie workforce in the CEO Lufthansa Technik Maintenance event of an AOG situation) and stability International. It is increasingly focusing of high-quality processes to avoid delays Since airlines want to reduce on the external market, especially low- and compensation payments in accord- their complexity, they are cost carriers. ance with EU261 [also known as the reducing the number of different “Particularly noteworthy in this Passenger Charter].” BJSDSBGUUZQFTJOUIFJSmFFUT context are the flexible expansion of Another challenge relates to recruit- Ulrich Hollerbach, production capacity in the wake of Eu- ment. Aircraft utilisation can change vice president maintenance Europe rowings’ fleet growth due to the insol- very rapidly. For instance, Monarch and CEO Lufthansa Technik vency of Air Berlin, a newly awarded looks after Norwegian’s Boeing fl eet – Maintenance International contract from UPS and the opening and the carrier is doubling the number of new Lufthansa Technik line main- of B787s it has based at Gatwick this

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www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com Summer 2018 Airline Ground Services 49

48-51 LineMNTC AGS-SUM18.indd 49 03/04/2018 10:09 LINE MAINTENANCE

year. This will require a signifi cant in- Staffi ng is also subject to seasonal- crease in skilled maintenance staff. A LOCAL ity, by virtue of the nature of the aviation Bickley explains: “If an operator ex- business. Line maintenance require- pands at airport, like Norwegian is do- PRESENCE ments peak in the summer season, es- ing at Gatwick, you still only have a cer- h*O FBSMZ 4UPSN "WJBUJPO UPPL pecially at airports that handle a lot of tainÆ volume of staff in that area. We’re TUFQTUPTFUVQBA(NC)JO(FSNBOZ charter traffi c. going to need 35 more engineers this BT B EJSFDU SFTVMU PG OFX CVTJOFTT Jones says: “Winter is clearly a qui- year,” he confi rms. TFDVSFE JO %VTTFMEPSG BOE .VOJDI v eter time for most providers and we, like Licensed engineers are becoming +POFTTBZT other similar businesses, use that valu- very rare following a drop-off during the able time for recruitment and training. 2000s as potential candidates were un- h8F BMTP TFU VQ 4UPSN "WJBUJPO However, our latest base maintenance able to afford the training, Bickley says. /JHFSJBEVSJOHUPBTTJTUXJUIVT venture continues to keep us very busy The military route has also dimin- TFSWJOHQSFFYJTUJOHDMJFOUTJO-BHPTn in the winter season. ished: fewer people are joining the UIFQPJOUCFJOHUIBUXFBMXBZTQSFGFS “To ensure full capability, we’ve in- armed forces, and therefore, fewer are UPTFUVQMPDBMFOUJUJFTXIFOFWFSXF vested about £750,000 in the last six leaving the military and taking jobs in DBO UIVT GBDJMJUBUJOH VT UP BQQSPQSJ months, procuring equipment such as civil aviation. BUFMZ GPMMPX MPDBM SVMFT BOE SFHVMB aircraft jacking equipment, a hydraulic tions. “We’re looking at training plans to rig and various other tooling and equip- bridge the armed forces’ qualifi cations to h5IJT DBO MFBE UP WBSJBUJPO BDSPTT ment commensurate to facilitate the civilian ones,” Bickley says. “Military per- UIFOFUXPSLBOEZPVIBWFUPBDDMJNB performance of Airbus A320 and B757 sonnel have a great work ethic and their UJTF UP UIBU XF BT B CVTJOFTT IBWF base maintenance,” he says. tooling skills and so on are very good, but B TUBOEBSEJTFE BQQSPBDI CVU UIJOHT Other factors that can have an im- they need to train for civilian aircraft.” can take more time in some places. pact on operations include the busy air- He is also keen to mention that Mon- 5IFSFNJHIUCFEFMBZTPSSFTUSJDUJPOT port environment, the logistics of mov- arch is one of the only MROs still offer- TQFDJlDUPBMPDBUJPO ing spares around a large site, spares ing apprenticeships. h*O NBOZ OBUJPOT XF DBOU TJNQMZ availability (perhaps affected by Cus- Hollerbach offers a slightly different BSSJWFBOEBUUFNQUUPTFUVQPVSPXO toms clearance, for example) and air- take on the labour situation. Agreeing MJOF NBJOUFOBODF PQFSBUJPO ZPV PG craft availability. that it is sometimes diffi cult to fi nd well- UFOIBWFUPXPSLXJUIMPDBMQBSUOFST “Most airline customers fl y all day qualifi ed personnel, he considers: “At VOEFSKPJOUPQFSBUJPOTv and while some do have daytime transit the same time, the increased effi ciency +POFT GFFMT UIBU HMPCBM TUBOEBSEJ checks, maintenance is generally done of new aircraft reduces the amount of TBUJPOPGUIFXIPMFTFDUPSXJMMOFWFS at night,” Jones says. “During summer, a maintenance required to maintain fl ight happen as certain regions remain charter airline aircraft might have a typi- operations, so that a smaller workforce QSPUFDUJPOJTUh#VUXFSFQSPVEUPCF cal fl ying day of 18 hours, so this limits will be needed in the future. increasing our presence as part of the the time available for maintenance to be “Lufthansa Technik is therefore *"51 UIF*OUFSOBUJPOBM"JSMJOFT5FDI carried out.” striving for greater fl exibility in its line OJDBM 1PPM XIPTF 4UBUJPO 3FTUSJD Based aircraft allow more time maintenance network and for broader UJPOT $PNNJUUFF MPPLT BU BJSQPSUT for maintenance activities, Bickley access to the labour market for mainte- XIFSFDIPJDFGPSBJSMJOFTJTIBNQFSFE points out, because they spend more nance personnel, especially in Europe.” CZMPDBMQPMJUJDTBOEBMJHONFOUUPUIF time on site. MPDBM OBUJPOBM DBSSJFST MJOF NBJOUF OBODFUFBN vIFTBZT

Monarch now provides line maintenance services for China Airlines’ A350 at Gatwick QIPUPCZ"%PVNFOKPVNBTUFSlMNTGPS"JSCVT

50 Airline Ground Services Summer 2018 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com

48-51 LineMNTC AGS-SUM18.indd 50 03/04/2018 10:09 LINE MAINTENANCE

Norwegian is doubling the number of B787s it has based at Gatwick Airport this year

If an operator expands at airport, like Norwegian is doing at Gatwick, you still only have a certain volume of staff in that area Jim Bickley, general manager for line maintenance at Monarch Aircraft Engineering

POSSIBILITIES Bickley goes on: “There’s a big swing Furthermore, virtual reality and aug- “The trend towards paperless mainte- towards remote, digital working rather mented reality are also on the horizon nance operations is imminent in the than coming back to the offi ce for pa- and have potential, Bickley adds. industry,” says Hollerbach. “This means perwork. This is particularly relevant at Overall, with digitalisation: “There that documentation is done directly in large airports – it saves time and fuel.” are elements of improved safety be- IT and on mobile devices. All aircraft At some point, he believes remote cause data can be shared – more people manuals will also be available on mo- certifi cation might be a possibility: rath- can check it, and documentation can be bile devices. This opens up good oppor- er than sending a highly skilled member more consistent. But mostly, the need tunities for the maintenance business of staff out to certify an aircraft, a less for increased aircraft availability and for effi cient processes such as trouble- highly trained employee could send pho- less down time means the industry will shooting. tos or video footage of the plane back to get behind it. And if an iPad saves one “In the fi eld of predictive mainte- the offi ce for checking. EU261 claim, it’s worth it,” he affi rms. nance, interesting possibilities will be explored in the future, leading to an expansion of the various job profi les,” he WE PRIDE OURSELVES ON BEING DIFFERENT considers. Bickley points out that there has been huge investment in digital solutions over the past few years – until the advent of the iPad, which has provided ready-made hardware with a built-in camera and even built-in security (such as thumbprint identifi cation). “Now it’s just a case of having the BHX/MAN right software,” he says, hinting that Monarch is trialling something at the Premiere Handling is the only independent moment. Handling company based at Birmingham Airport and Manchester Airport Flight operations ō Passenger services Ramp services ō Cargo handling ō Business aviation We are there for you 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

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www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com Summer 2018 Airline Ground Services 51

48-51 LineMNTC AGS-SUM18.indd 51 03/04/2018 10:09 PASSENGER MANAGEMENT SATISFACTION Michael Muzik, senior product manager and consultant at Lufthansa Systems, considers how airlines and their ground handling partners can go beyond classic passenger re-accommodation management

isconnected passengers “Should I save a group of 10 econo- cost the airline industry my passengers travelling from Atlanta not only money – but also to Madrid or rather three VIPs going their reputation. Passen- from Vienna to Tel Aviv – all connect- ger sentiment has become ing in Frankfurt?” The next step is Mmore critical as passengers nowadays of- therefore to prioritise all yellow con- ten share their experiences on social me- nections. Useful prioritisation param- dia. “Couldn’t they [the airline] just have eters for a calculation might be: VIP waited 15 minutes?” you might later read status, booking class, journey, group on Twitter. size, ‘negative sentiment factor’, etc. Flight disruptions are daily busi- The results might be a transfer index – ness for airlines and require re-ac- the more value a passenger connection commodation activities. But how this stream has according to the prioritisa- is handled might become a key differ- tion parameters, the more important it entiator. Here is an IT-supported solu- is to save this stream (see graphic 2). tion approach that therefore doesn’t only focus on delayed flights. GRAPHIC 2 Passenger connection RE-ACCOMMODATION VS PASSENGER management is a concept to CONNECTION MANAGEMENT manage itinerary disruptions in Many airlines still handle their passenger a more passenger sentiment- connections manually and intuitively. oriented way Advanced ones use IT in order to take Michael Muzik, senior product control of their misconnections. Most re- manager and consultant, Lufthansa Systems accommodation systems on the market propose a passenger recovery plan, offer rebooking features, re-issue tickets, etc. Decisions about transferring pas- But let’s be honest: For me as a passengers must be made in real time. To know exact the missing transfer senger it’s least stressful if I can follow The first prerequisite, therefore, is au- time of each passenger stream, a smart my original itinerary. Best-practice tomatically updated information from connection time engine should be ca- airlines therefore engage in passen- (airport) flight information systems, pable of calculating expected transfer ger connection management, which booking systems or departure control times before landing, such as gate- goes beyond classic re-accommodation systems. Second: it’s all about timing. to-gate walking distances, national/ management. All resolutions should happen during international transfer times, and also Passenger connection manage- the landing phase, to allow sufficient consider congestion at peak hours. ment is a concept to manage itiner- time to execute the necessary actions. This allows the operator to compare ary disruptions in a more passenger the needed transfer time to the avail- sentiment-oriented way. It focuses on TRANSPARENCY able transfer time. A result might for critical passenger connection streams Instead of only dividing the transfer instance be: for my connecting passen- from among candidates for rebook- connections into the ones that are in ger stream to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, ing, and the resolution of disruptions time and need no further attention 12 minutes are ‘missing’ to catch the with countermeasure before landing, (let’s call them green) and those who outbound flight on time. letting passengers follow their original aren’t and have to be rebooked (red), itinerary (see graphic 1). I’d like to introduce a third group of EVALUATE THE ALTERNATIVES passenger streams – the yellow ones. The next step is to evaluate the rebooking GRAPHIC 1 Yellow connections represent critical costs before landing. The pre-evaluation connections which are neither lost nor of fl ight alternatives plays an important uncritical, because they lack about role: they are an important component 1-20 minutes to get on time to their of the transfer index. Here it is important onward fl ight. These connections can to evaluate what costs might occur be saved by taking special measures (hotel, compensation, rebooking on the (‘steering activities’). The aim of airline’s own or other fl ights), in case a passenger connection management rebooking has to be done. is, consequently, to make this yellow The identification and cost defini- passenger stream green. tion of steering activities that will get

52 Airline Ground Services Summer 2018 www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com

52-53 Pax Mgmt AGS-SUM18.indd 52 03/04/2018 10:10 PASSENGER MANAGEMENT

passengers on their onward flight even EXAMPLE OF A STEERING ACTIVITY with delayed inbounds is important too. Steering activities represent services or measures that can be taken to RAMP DIRECT SERVICE (RDS) speed up connecting processes or to s WORKFLOW: The passenger connection manager activates a person delay departures. including a car that will fetch the connecting passengers at the ramp and Examples are: ramp direct trans- bring them directly to the outbound aircraft. fers, arrival service (disembarking passengers get advice on how to get to s TIME EFFECT: It saves 12 minutes of needed transfer time. their connecting flights as quickly as s COSTS: XY EUR per activation. possible), or alternative gate positions. s AVAILABILITY: 6am to 8pm. Ideally a steering activity is defined by a workflow, time effect, operational s EXPIRY DATE: Latest order possible 15 minutes before expected arrival cost, availability and expiry date (see (otherwise the RDS Agent doesn’t have enough time to get to the aircraft) example in box). With this information it is possible to calculate the cost trade-off between well-designed processes and pre- derailed due to unexpected deviations. hypothetically rebooking the passen- defi ned workfl ows (for example simple Keeping passenger sentiment in focus, ger stream (misconnection costs) ver- order/approve/reject mechanisms for smooth passenger connections should sus saving it with a steering activity steering activities that have limited have top priority. To achieve this, air- (connection saving costs). availabilities, like number of staff doing lines should consider the concept of The result of the cost and time an arrival service per shift) to instantly passenger connection management. analysis enables the correct steer- execute these steering activities. Each No one likes to see any traveller’s ing action to be taken for each yellow involved stakeholder must also have expression when missing their con- stream. Clearly, passenger streams full transparency about the current necting flight. But for sure, everybody with a higher transit index will be workfl ow state. will be happy to watch the same pas- served first. In case of approval the formerly senger’s face when they make their critical (yellow) connection will turn to connection. Thus passenger connec- SAVING CRITICAL CONNECTIONS a safe (green) connection, as the need- tion management can even turn a po- At this stage, many airlines have a hard ed connection time was ‘saved’. Target tentially negative situation into a posi- time taking the next step. The best achieved: the affected passengers can tive passenger tweet: “Yes! I made it! operational decision is worth nothing continue their journey as planned. Thanks!” So why not spend more effort if it can’t be carried out. This requires The best operational plans often get on making the passenger happy?

www.ags-airlinegroundservices.com Summer 2018 Airline Ground Services 53

52-53 Pax Mgmt AGS-SUM18.indd 53 03/04/2018 10:10 INDUSTRY UPDATE

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