At last month’s IATA’s handling conference, it was announced “effective staff recruitment and retention” should be one of the ground handling sector’s top priorities as the busy northern summer period approaches.
Many ground service providers are still facing the dilemma of recruiting adequate number of staff to cover ramp operations to meet ongoing demand for flights and with the northern Peak summer season happening just around the corner the pressure is mounting on them to move quickly.
“In the short-term we must act fast to prepare for increased traffic,” said Monika Mejstrikova, IATA’s Director of Ground Operations at the 35th IATA Ground Handling Conference (IGHC) in Abu Dhabi last month. “Ensuring efficient onboarding of new employees and working with governments to reduce bottlenecks in security clearances is critical. Longer-term, more effective staff recruitment and retention, implementing global standards and accelerating digitalisation and automation will be critical to build resilience and ensure sustainability.”
Swissport’s North America CEO and Managing Director Frank Mena, agreed that replacing experience (following the exodus of talent during the pandemic) was challenging which is why Swissport says it is now “laser focused” on culture, recruiting, team member development and retention activities.
“We are entering the summer of 2023 in a much better place than we did in 2022. Given our strong focus and efforts, staffing levels have recovered in most locations, but the labour market combined with industry frictions such as badging, continue to be a challenge. We are confident however in our ability to keep up with increased demands.”
We are entering the summer of 2023 in a much better place than we did in 2022 - Frank Mena, Swissport
dnata says it’s well staffed in most markets and is ensuring that its ethos of aviation remaining a profession never changes, focusing on highly skilled labour, career progression, and benefits that are expected in such a profession, and which are a common standard within European markets.
“By also providing a safe and secure environment for our employees and providing them with thorough training, dnata targets to be the employer of choice in the market,” said David Barker, dnata.
For Samsic Assistance it is proud to say that its retention level in the region is much higher than the average of the industry (above 80% in 2022). “This is mostly due to the proximity and family based management style that we deploy in all our operations,” explains Stefano, Sciotti, VP International Operations and CCO.
“It is interesting to highlight that the massive growth in the region in the last three years has been done fully through internal growth, which gave us the opportunity to be consistent in the deployment of the company’s core values, processes and in the quality of the services provided.”
Interestingly, Samsic has been one of the very few ground handling companies in the world which during the pandemic decided not to make people redundant during the pandemic.
“This strategic choice, driven by the core values of the Samsic Group, a French family owned company, has demonstrated its effectiveness when in 2022 there has been a sudden recovery of the industry with a major labour shortage.Samsic has been able to keep in-house the competences during the pandemic and to continue delivering our services with high standards of safety and quality after the recovery, while the lack of competences has been one of the major challenges of the industry.”
Samsic has been able to deploy the requested GSE fleet in an extremely short timeframe without enduring supply chain issues because of a good partnership with a GSE manufacturer and supplier.
New US headquarters
Other exciting news for dnata, is that it has now moved into its state-of-the-art headquarters in Lake Nona, which happened in the last quarter of 2022.
“It is well positioned, on the outskirts of Orlando International Airport, with room for expansion. This will enable us to support the company’s USA operations that provides a range of ground, passenger, and cargo handling services to more than 60 airlines,” said Barker.
The USA is very important to dnata’s operational footprint which currently stands at 24 airports.
“The country is extremely important as we handle mainly international wide-body aircraft,” said Barker. “The USA is vital to external carriers, as the country provides generally the most profitable routes for international airlines. Therefore, they demand perfect standards for safety and service.
“However, this is an extremely competitive market with little to no barriers to entry for ground handlers. Operational efficiency is at 98% in the USA, but the pressure to maintain this is so intense. I would like there to be more barriers to entry for prospective ground handlers to demonstrate capital, sustainability initiatives, that they can be an employer of choice, and provide high equipment standards.”
Achievements
All ground handlers agreed performance was far better in 2022 compared to 2021 while cargo volumes have particularly softened in the USA market.
Swissport says it saw very significant growth in the America’s region, especially in Q3 and Q4. In Canada Swissport is expecting to surpass 2019 passenger numbers in 2023, with significant growth coming from LCC and ULCC operators. Cargo volumes however have softened, particularly in the USA market.
“The rapid ramp up of operations in the second half of the year of our international customers put significant stress on operations and performance, but we were able to finish the year with a more stable operational performance. We were able to add new locations served with the addition of two locations in Hawaii (OGG and KOA) and a significant growth of our Halifax location in Canada,” said Mena.
Swissport’s Aspire Lounge brand will be opening two new locations in Canada in 2023. “Additionally, we are working on a few major projects that will solidify our position as the market leader in both the USA and Canada. Our business partners have been great supporters and we are humbled by their trust,” said Mena.
“With air travel close to returning to pre-pandemic levels in many areas, the demand for quality ground handling services is equally increasing. The labour markets are stabilising along with the airline schedules. Our plan is to continue to stabilise by investing in the ongoing training of our growing workforce, maintaining engagement with our airline partners, ensuring that safety is paramount at all times, and we make further investment in sustainable equipment.
For dnata last year Canada maintained its best-in-class service and safety while expanding into Vancouver and Calgary while Brazil continues to grow, with a presence in 29 airports around the country. In addition, in the USA, dnata Logistics renewed contracts with the United States Postal Service in Baltimore, Chicago, and at LAX airport, the largest postal hub in the USA.
“The labour markets are stabilising along with the airline schedules. Our plan is to continue to stabilise by investing in the ongoing training of our growing workforce, maintaining engagement with our airline partners, ensuring that safety is paramount at all times, and we make further investment in sustainable equipment.
“We pride ourselves in offering best-in-class services and consistently investing in our operations to ensure the highest level of service and safety. We urge airports to set a higher bar for the standard of ground handler, prioritising quality, safety and sustainability over pricing to benefit airlines and passengers in the long term,” said Barker.
A major development for Samsic is represented by the award of the Operating License at YUL, fully in line with the development plan in Canada where Samsic is now operating in four out of the five major airports of the Country (Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal).
After being awarded the Operating License at the Montreal-Trudeau International Airport in February and as an active pillar of the Airport Community, Samsic has deployed an extremely ambitious implementation plan in order to be ready to operate prior of the summer season peak. As a result effective from 1 May 2023, after only 82 days from the award, it started Towing Operations for Jazz Aviation and Full Handling Operations of Aeromexico.
On 16 May it started Ramp handling operations for Porter Airlines and between 1 June and 1 July and will start supporting the other seven partners airlines that already trusted Samsic as its ground handling company at YUL.
Gold star award goes to…
In 2022, Samsic Assistance tripled its revenues in the region compared to 2021, extending its partnerships to seven new airline carriers.
“We successfully went through six carriers and authority audits in 2022 and achieved the Gold KPI Status for the quality of the services provided in Vancouver International Airport. In 2023, thanks to the start-up of the operations in Montreal-Trudeau and the further development in other stations in Canada and in the USA, we look forward to multiplying by 2.5 the revenues in North America versus 2022.”
Other updates
Since 2005 the Samsic Group has become a member of the UN Global Compact, now at an advanced level, and more specifically the company has deployed the Samsic Planet 2030 Program in order to reduce and offset carbon emissions.
“In that perspective the developments we have been discussing above have been deployed with a close eye to sustainability, implementing in Vancouver and San Francisco a GSE fleet 65% electric. Same attention has been provided in Montreal where we also installed our own electric chargers to support this development,” said Sciotti.
As part of dnata’s US$100 million investment in reducing its carbon emissions by 20% by 2024, and 50% by 2030, any new ramp vehicle procured will be electric or hybrid. “However, we are facing a significant challenge with airport infrastructure which is preventing us from expanding this programme at a faster rate,” said Barker.
Mena added: “The industry has worked hard to return to normal given the global challenges and we are proud to be a part of that. This is an industry that always finds a way to rebound and become better for it. We believe 2023 will not be without challenge but will see stability return. We also see meaningful growth ahead in the North America marketplace. Our focus will remain on culture, value creation and operational excellence so that we may best care for our team members, our business partners and properly serve the traveling public.”
dnata is working on its training programmes, particularly from classroom to On the Job Training (OJT). This includes OJT Mentors, Supervisor training and Premier leadership training.
Barker said: “We have to ensure that safety standards are upheld and go further than minimum regulatory levels. A prominent feature of the ‘One dnata’ identity is its continual focus on safety and security. By following international best practice at every global location, dnata is committed to achieving the highest possible safety and security standards for its customers, employees and facilities, so that it can build a culture of commitment towards safety.
“Our training includes the use of Virtual Reality, to ensure that dnata’s new and existing ground handlers are as prepared and safe as possible for all ramp operations. By providing the highest level of training, we consistently deliver the highest level of safety to our customers and employees.”
On the issue of technology, he added: “The importance of technology entering the market, cannot be underestimated. This includes autonomous vehicles, the use of telematics, and drones, which we have already implanted within our cargo warehouses at Dallas Fort Worth airport (DFW).
“Greater use of innovation ensures that our efficiency increases, which in turn allows us to offer our best-in-class services to a greater number of customers. We will continue to invest in the latest, digital technologies to maximise efficiency and consistently deliver the highest value for our customers globally.”
