Ceo Report for Gatcom
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ITEM 7 CEO REPORT FOR GATCOM APRIL – JUNE 2019 Gatwick Airport Limited Stewart Wingate, CEO Overview – April to June Traffic Performance 12.5m 76.7k 85.8% Top passengers air traffic movements aircraft load factor Destinations Barcelona, Malaga, Dublin, Orlando Operational Performance Core Service In Bound Baggage On Time Departures Aircraft track performance Standards 99.37% in 55 mins or 71.5% 40/40 less Target: 70% summer & (latest data to be 46th consec month Target 99% 75% winter circulated separately) Our Quality of Service Monitor (QSM) survey captures the level of overall passenger satisfaction amongst both Departing and Arriving passengers on a 5-point scale (1=Extremely Poor; 2=Poor; 3=Average; 4=Good & 5=Excellent) and the Average scores over the last three and a half years are shown in the graph here. disruption caused by ATC strike action across Europe allied with unseasonably poor weather. The overall monthly scores over the last 12 months have been tracking high at just below 4.30 – and in the last quarter the scores have been 4.26; 4.26 & 4.24, for April, May & June respectively. In June the score is significantly higher than a year ago, which was characterised by disruption caused by ATC strike action across Europe allied with unseasonably poor weather. Net Promoter Score (NPS): This measure of advocacy (or how much our passengers are likely to recommend Gatwick to friends and family) has also been tracking upwards for the last few years. The latest monthly NPS for each month between February & June are also highest-ever scores for this time of year, but the June score has been impacted by congestion in North terminal, in particular. The first three months of the reporting year has started extremely well for Wilson James and the special assistance operation at Gatwick. Volumes have been significantly higher than last year with June 2019 seeing a 7% increase in PRM passengers vs June 2018. Even with these increases, performance has remained strong and the arrivals measures remain above 99% on a consistent basis. May/June 2019 has seen over a 10% increase on the 20 minute arrivals measure, a key to the step change in performance. May/June did also come with its challenges, for the first time ever May and June saw over 70,000 PRM passengers travel through Gatwick Airport each month. With the busy summer season well upon us the consistent performance of the special assistance operation is a great achievement. Attributable delays also continue the stable trend with the first three months of the reporting year below the 1% target. As part of the CAA Accessibility audit (Regulation EC1107/2006), the CAA audited the responses to Special assistance feedback. 20 complaints were selected at random by the CAA with 90% categorised as “above expectation” and 10% “meeting expectation”. “The complaints handling function is above expectation.” “The responses given to complaints are well written, personalised and emphatic. Complaint handlers reply promptly to cases. Complex complaints are fully investigated as well.” Passenger feedback saw a downward trend for complaints per 100,000 passengers in the last three months up to May, which showed a 13% decrease compared to the previous year. Airport & Operations Gatwick’s new long-term partnership with VINCI Airport and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) was confirmed in May when the sale of a 50.01% stake in the airport to Vinci Airports was completed. GIP will continue to manage the remaining 49.99% interest in Gatwick. The new partnership promises continued investment to put passengers at the heart of Gatwick’s future plans. In June Gatwick published its annual financial results which demonstrated another successful year with passenger numbers growing to 46.4 million. The airport’s long haul routes showed particular growth (+14.3%) with around 1 in 5 airport passengers now travelling long-haul. New long haul routes include China Eastern flights to Shanghai and Norwegian’s new service to Rio de Janeiro. In order to counter the threat of drones, Gatwick’s Security team continues to work with both the governments future Drone management strategy and manufacturers research and development programmes to deny a hostile drone. Our work has included a number of high level presentations and briefings to both DfT, CAA and the Airport Operators Association (AOA) together with a range of overseas agencies. Working alongside the UK Government also features heavily as part of Gatwick Security’s future strategy planning as we seek to adhere to a range of key dates that will see a stepped approach towards delivering a security screening operation using the latest advancements in technology to enable us to screen 100% of passengers and staff through security (body) scanners and advanced computer tomography cabin baggage x-ray machines. Whilst deploying such kit may appear straightforward; significant planning work is on-going to address the physical infrastructure challenges that feature heavily when focusing on protecting both the ability to provide the highest levels of security standards and the most optimum passenger facilitation experience. In April we appeared before the All Party Parliamentary Group on autism as part of its inquiry into the Autism Act, highlighting such initiatives as our sensory room and the hidden disabilities lanyard. Our latest Gatwick Accessibility Day saw 30 families welcomed to see the sights and hear the sounds of our busy airport in a safe, positive and fun environment. Gatwick’s Accessibility Days are designed to help familiarise families who may find the airport experience overwhelming and may need a little extra support during their airport journey - all before they travel. For some families, this makes all the difference in deciding whether to travel or not. Blind and visually impaired passengers at Gatwick can now call a professionally trained agent 24 hours a day who will - by using the camera on the passenger’s mobile phone – guide them through the airport, help them read documents or flight information, shop or even find their bag on the luggage carousel. The free, on demand service can be accessed through the aira app on a smart phone and will help to give blind and visually impaired passengers more independence to move through and enjoy the facilities at the airport. Working with UK Border Force, we supported the expansion of the e-gates which went live in May enabling eligible nationals from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the USA to use them at Gatwick, improving the passenger experience through the border whilst maintaining security. As part of this work over 180 signs were changed across the passenger arrivals routes. The withdrawal of landing cards for all non-EEA passengers arriving into the UK, across all routes, came into effect at the same time. We have successfully launched a new passenger Wi-Fi which saw on day one over 10,000 passengers use the enhanced service. The increased internet speeds now position us as one of the best airports for Wi-Fi services in the London area. Moreover, initial discussions are underway with network providers to explore the opportunities for 5G services at Gatwick. Our Gatwick Chatbot has been enabled on Facebook Messenger allowing passengers to track the status of their flight, find information about restaurants, menu’s, opening times and other commonly asked questions through our virtual assistant ‘Gail’ directly within the Messenger app. Gail will learn the answers to more topics over time as it engages with passengers and we plan to promote this new service gradually over the next 6 months. Gatwick is delighted to have won the Airport Council International (ACI) Europe’s Accessible Airport Award for its progress in helping to remove barriers that people with disabilities and reduced mobility face when travelling by air. The Gatwick Airport Directive (GAD) on Limitations on the use of Aircraft Auxiliary Power Units (APU) has been reissued. This maintains the existing procedures and restrictions on APU usage, monitoring and auditing. In addition, a temporary exemption procedure has been introduced for the period June-September 2019 to enable a comfortable working environment during on-board turnaround cleaning activities. During this period, after 1100 hours local time, when cabin temperatures are recorded above 28° an exemption from the GAD restrictions on APU usage may be sought via the Airside Operations Duty team. Running of the APU in this situation is time- limited (maximum 45 minutes). Any exemptions need to be sought and recorded, and compliance will be monitored. New cycle parking facilities have been provided at various locations at South Terminal, increasing cycle parking by an additional 66 spaces. Additional spaces have been provided at Concorde House, which was previously very underserved. 11 pods have been removed from the shuttle side of the A23, increasing capacity by 36 spaces. A further rack has also been introduced at Car Park B, replacing a low quality, aging rack. Each of these new locations also has a bike maintenance pod attached for minor bike repairs. Newly created walking and cycling maps have been installed to help staff, passengers and visitors to get around Gatwick’s external areas on foot, using our safe walking routes. They also highlight points of interest and key buildings. One map shows the airport’s cycling facilities, as well as National Cycle Route 21, which runs under South Terminal. The maps were launched in May to coincide with National Walking Month. The Highways England M23 Smart Motorway Project is progressing well with the majority of the new gantries and MS4 signs already installed. The 36 hour closure of the westbound Gatwick Spur (J9-9a) was successful, with minimal congestion and just 1 complaint registered by Highways England’s Contact Centre and no Gatwick passenger complaints.