Business Buzz
¦ UPS will invest more money in infrastructure facilities and technologies in China in 2008 to angle for more second-tier and third-tier cities as well as medium and small customers. The company, which has set up 23 branches for land transportation in China, will open 10 more branches in May mainly in second-tier and third-tier cities such as Zhuhai, Nantong, Wuhan, Jiaxing and Weihai. More will be built later. It will use new aircraft to replace old ones for its Chinese air cargo operation, to increase its carrying capacity there by 30 percent.
¦ ERMC, a national facility maintenance services provider, announced the release of two new products that will allow customers in the airline industry to gain efficiencies and improve financial losses related to lost baggage. One of the new products is a software system which controls and monitors every aspect of a baggage handling conveyor system. It provides alarms, notification and reporting related to a jam or problem in any section of the conveyor. It also allows control of the system to occur from a central location including diagnostics and configuration, all in a very user-friendly format. The second product provides cameras which photograph baggage as it passes from ticket counter to airplane. By linking the digital image of the bag with the airline-provided bar code tag, baggage can be much more easily identified and located.
¦ A 2007 Minnesota Governors Award for Excellence in Waste and Pollution Prevention has been awarded to Northwest Airlines. The airline said that its application as Conserving Resources Doing Our Part, highlighted its fuel conservation and resource management, which reportedly focuses on proactive fleet modernization, fuel conservation and material recycling efforts.
¦ Fortbrand Services Inc., the exclusive North American distributor for Beam A/S, a Danish manufacturer of specialized, high performance airport sweepers, announced the sale of a new model VX800 Multi-Task Airport Service Vehicle to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. The VX800 is a self-contained, one operator vehicle capable of performing a number of tasks typically required for the proper maintenance of airfield facilities. Primarily designed for runway rubber removal, the VX800 Multi-Task Airport Service Vehicle is also capable of performing apron sweeping and scrubbing, runway sweeping, street sweeping and various liquid or debris pick-up through its full width suction nozzles and wander hose.
¦ Technology that warns pilots about potential runway safety hazards will be installed at Los Angeles International Airport under a partnership between the Federal Aviation Administration and the City of Los Angeles. The system, called Runway Status Lights, uses a series of red lights embedded in the pavement to warn pilots if it is unsafe to cross over or enter a runway. Under an agreement between the FAA and Los Angeles World Airports, pilots will begin testing Runway Status Lights at LAX, the nation’s fourth busiest airport early next year. LAWA is funding the system, which costs an estimated $6 million. The FAA will install, test, evaluate and maintain the system. It is in place at Dallas/Fort Worth and San Diego.
¦ In fiscal year 2007, the Fraport Group achieved new air traffic records and further increases in revenue and operating results. With €2.33 billion, revenue was 8.6 percent higher than in the previous year, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization rose by 0.4 percent over 2006 to reach €580.5 million. Net profit of €213.7 million was 6.6 percent lower due to special effects in 2006. Fraport’s executive board is recommending an unchanged dividend of €1.15 per share.
¦ Aviapartner Handling Services has received the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Passenger Ground Handling Award 2007 in recognition of its customer friendliness and excellent customer service. The award was presented by Rutger Arisz, director account & contract management, in the name of Ad Rutten, executive vice president & COO of the Schiphol Group during the official Schiphol Aviation Award Ceremony held March 17, 2008.
¦ Chevron Global Aviation announced a new online training course designed for FBO employees that are new to the various quality assurance practices and procedures required in the aviation industry. The course targets personnel whose duties include line service, customer service and operations. Titled Product Integrity 101, the class is available at no charge to Chevron- and Texaco-branded FBOs.
¦ JLG Industries Inc. announced that Ground Support will become the new umbrella brand for JLG’s parts, training, used equipment sales, reconditioning, repair and maintenance services, financing and technical support services.
Partnerships/Acquisitions/Contracts
¦ Lufthansa Cargo and Jade Cargo International extended their cooperation March 30, 2008. Lufthansa Cargo will be responsible for marketing the airfreight capacity of its Sino-German cargo subsidiary on routes from Europe to Asia. The Blocked Space Agreement will apply to all Jade Cargo International’s routes ex Europe and will be valid throughout the forthcoming summer timetable and the 2008/2009 winter timetable. Under the terms of this new cooperation agreement, the marketing and sales partnership between Jade Cargo International and Swiss WorldCargo will be transferred to Lufthansa Cargo.
¦ UFIS Airport Solutions has been awarded a contract by Aeroporti di Roma to support them in providing services to persons with reduced mobility. The new application enables handling agents at the airport to plan and dispatch staff for the PRM service using UFIS-AS’s Resource Management System. The application will also provide the functions to gather status information on the services and to provide data for KPI measurement to ensure that the service levels required are met.
¦ JetBlue Airways has purchased oxygen servicing carts from AERO Specialties for JetBlue maintenance facilities in numerous locations throughout the US. The carts are AERO Specialties three-bottle tilting carts equipped with regulator systems and (on some) intensifiers. All carts were powder-coated a custom color specified by JetBlue, and AERO delivered the systems to JetBlue within three weeks of order. AERO is also providing regular parts support for the systems, particularly calibrated gauges.
¦ LGS Handling Limited, the joint venture between Louis Aviation Services, Goldair Handling and Servisair, has confirmed that it has been awarded a license to provide full ground handling services at Larnaca and Paphos Airports in Cyprus from May 15, 2008. LGS secured the seven-year license to provide ground handling operations ahead of two other companies that tendered.
¦ Menzies Aviation announced contracts at the new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Hyderabad. Menzies Bobba Ground Handling Services, a joint venture between Menzies Aviation and Bobba Group, began handling Oman Air & Saudi Arabia Airlines on March 16, 2008, providing full ground handling service to the airline including passenger, ramp and cabin cleaning. Menzies Bobba has also won the contract to provide full ground handling to Qatar Airways at Hyderabad, while Hyderabad Menzies Air Cargo, a joint venture between Menzies Aviation and GHIAL has been awarded Qatar Airways’ cargo and warehouse contract. Hyderabad Menzies Air Cargo has also been awarded the contract to handle Kuwait Airways & Singapore Airlines, effective March 16, 2008.
¦ Encore FBO, GTCR Golder Rauner and Platform Partners have completed the acquisition of Landmark Aviation’s Airport Services division, consisting of 33 FBOs, from Dubai Aerospace Enterprise. The combined company, which will retain the Landmark Aviation name, consists of 41 FBOs throughout the US, Canada and Europe.
¦ ASIG® announced that it has been selected by Jet Airways as their new cabin services provider at London Heathrow Airport. ASIG is handling Jet Airways’ four daily international flights.
¦ AERO Specialties has signed distributor agreements with TLD and Unitron to distribute each manufacturer’s ground support equipment. AERO’s agreement with TLD centers on exclusive US general aviation distribution of TLD’s new GPU-4060-T-CUP 60KVA/400Hz diesel-powered GPU, which will become available spring 2008. AERO’s distribution agreement with Unitron adds the solid state ground power manufacturer’s products to its catalog. Unitron’s GFC Series PwrKarts offer the most sophisticated solid-state AC and DC power available today. AERO will offer units in various configurations from 15KVA up through 180KVA, each with optional 28.5V DC power.
People in the News
¦ SkyWest Airlines, a subsidiary of SkyWest Inc., is pleased to name David W. Faddis as director of its enhanced SkyWest operations safety and compliance department, effective March 10. In the new role, he will be responsible for all safety and security programs, auditing and compliance throughout the airline’s operation, including flight operations, maintenance, ground operations and passenger safety.
¦ Sun Country Airlines announced Stan Gadek will be joining the airline as CEO/president. Gadek comes to Sun Country from AirTran where he held the position of senior vice president finance and CFO since 2000.
¦ Airport operator BAA has announced that its chief executive officer, Stephen Nelson, is to leave the company. Colin Matthews is to take over Nelson’s position, effective April 1. Matthews has previously been employed as chief executive officer of water group Severn Trent and as an executive at British Airways.
¦ John Dasburg, chairman, chief executive officer and president of ASTAR Air Cargo, announced the promotion of Kenneth “Rob” Miller to managing director employee relations. Miller, who has been with ASTAR since 2003, has had key roles at ASTAR in finance and human resources where he currently serves as director, employee relations. Miller will be based at ASTAR’s operations base in Wilmington, Ohio.
¦ Northwest Airlines reported March 21 that it has promoted Richard B. Hirst to the positions of senior vice president of corporate affairs and general counsel, reporting directly to the airline’s President and CEO Doug Steenland. In the extended role that Hirst now has, he will look after the airline’s legal affairs as well as remaining the reporting contact for the internal and external communication functions.
¦ Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc. announced that Assistant General Counsel Matt Henry has been promoted to vice president and general counsel, and Frontier’s current Vice President and Chief Information Officer Gerry Coady has been promoted to senior vice president and CIO. Henry’s promotion followed the immediate departure of David Sislowski, formerly Frontier’s senior vice president and general counsel, who is leaving Frontier to pursue other opportunities. Sislowski’s departure and both promotions were effective March 7, 2008. Henry has been Frontier’s senior corporate counsel since February 2003, and Coady joined Frontier in May 2007.
¦ The Transportation Security Administration announced the appointment of Douglas Hofsass as general manager, Commercial Airports Security Division, Transportation Sector Network Management. In his previous capacity, Hofsass was the federal security director at LaGuardia Airport, New York City, where he also oversaw TSA security operations at Long Island MacArthur (Islip) Airport, Westchester County Airport and the Manhattan heliports for the past two years. In his new position, Hofsass will be responsible for building strong security networks with commercial airports nationwide.
¦ United Airlines appointed
P. Douglas McKeen as senior vice president—labor relations. McKeen, an employment lawyer and highly regarded labor negotiator, joins United with more than 20 years of airline labor relations and human resources experience. At United, McKeen will oversee all labor relations functions and will report to Pete McDonald, executive vice president and chief operating officer.
¦ Delta Air Lines has named Tony Charaf as president of Delta TechOps, the airline’s maintenance division. The airline has also promoted John Laughter to the role of senior vice president of maintenance operations. In addition, the airline revealed that Neil Stronach has been promoted to senior vice president of operations control. Gil West has also been named as the company’s new senior vice president for airport customer service, effective March 10.
¦ The Transportation Security Administration announced the selection of Daniel E. Liddell as the federal security director for Syracuse Hancock International Airport. As the FSD, he will oversee all TSA operations at Syracuse Hancock and operations at Binghamton, Ithaca, Watertown, Ogdensburg, Massena and Rome airports, all in New York.
¦ SMS Holdings announced the addition of Bob Birdsong as vice president of marketing. In this newly created position, Birdsong is responsible for the planning and execution of marketing plans across the SMS Holdings’ portfolio of operating companies. SMS Holdings is the parent company for a diverse group of operating companies providing facility and security management services in the shopping center, hospitality, health care and aviation industries.
