GSE Expo Worldwide
March 10-11
Las Vegas, NV
GSE Buyers & Ramp Ops Conference
April 13-15
Milan, Italy
IATA 28th Ground Handling Conference
April 26-29
Istanbul, Turkey
AAAE 87th Annual Conference & Expo
June 7-10
Philadelphia, PA
inter airport Europe
October 8-11
Munich, Germany
NBAA Business Aviation Conference & Exposition
November 17-19
Las Vegas, NV
Business Buzz
JBT Corporation announced the formation of an equipment finance unit, JBT Equipment Finance LLC, which will offer various financing products in the US and many countries around the world.
Dnata invested more than $148 million in 2014 to deepen its service offering in travel, cargo, ground handling and catering. The investments included enhanced cargo infrastructure in the UK.
During Airports Company South Africa’s annual Feather, Swissport International was awarded “Best Cargo Handler of the Year 2014.” ACSA’s Feather Awards are based on feedback from passengers and other airport users. This is the first time the award went to Swissport.
Last year, Iberia Airport Services handled more than 78 million passengers and 330,000 aircraft belonging to Iberia and another 200 airlines at the 41 Spanish airports where it operates. The largest growth in passenger traffic – more than 10 percent – was recorded at airports in popular tourist zones on the Mediterranean, such as Ibiza, Alicante and Malaga.
Using feedback from its customers, JLG Industries, Inc., modified its ES and RT scissor lift lines. For example, the platforms and deck extension surfaces for all ES model scissors have been upgraded to diamond plate steel to enhance strength, durability and repairability.
Arab Air Carriers Organization says the number of passengers flying through Arab airports will grow to 571 million by 2026.
Daifuku Webb Holding Company has changed its name to Daifuku North America Holding Company and will begin using the Daifuku logo in 2015. Incorporating the Daifuku logo better aligns Daifuku North America with other Daifuku entities across the globe, including Daifuku America Corporation, Jervis B. Webb Company, Wynright and Elite Line Services.
Southwest Airlines earned a record $1.1 billion in 2014, marking the first profits have gone over the $1 billion mark. Its previous best year came in 2013, when its net income reached $754 million.
Delta Air Lines’ Trainer refinery posted a $105 million profit in the fourth quarter. Delta expects "a pretty healthy profit at the refinery" in the first three months of this year, said CFO Paul Jacobson.
United Airlines' fourth-quarter profit fell 80 percent due to severance costs and contracts that lost value as oil prices tumbled. Without those one-time setbacks, however, the airline's adjusted profit soared. Excluding one-time charges for hedging, severance payments and other things, United Continental Holdings Inc. earned $2 billion in 2014, an 89 percent increase over the year before.
American Airlines reported fourth-quarter net income of $597 million, reversing a $2 billion loss a year earlier. Excluding one-time costs such as expenses to combine American and US Airways, the company earned a record $1.1 billion, or $1.52 per share.
An insurance company and its president overbilled Miami-Dade's airport and Quality Aircraft Services Inc., a baggage-handling company, by more than $400,000 by fraudulently billing for workers compensation and general liability insurance, then pocketing the differences.
A former employee for Shell Pipeline Co. who oversaw maintenance of a jet fuel pipeline near Mitchell International Airport pleaded guilty to failing to follow federal law in doing his job. That negligence led to the spill of 9,000 gallons of jet fuel in January 2012 that cost $19 million to clean it up.
Current Power LLC announced a new website showcasing the company’s mobile and stationary GPU product line along with offering users the ability to purchase equipment and parts on line. Visit www.currentpowerllc.com
ARK Development LLC has signed a 30-year lease with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to develop a $48 million animal handling facility, which will provide medical services and temporary accommodations for thoroughbred racehorses, livestock and exotic and common pets that are traveling through JFK Airport.
An Austrian low-cost airline has announced plans for what it claims is the world’s shortest international flight – a 30-mile hop from Vienna to Bratislava. FlyNiki will launch the 10-minute service in April linking the Austrian and Slovakian capitals – a journey that can take as little as an hour by car, or even less by train.
Boeing Co. topped Airbus in deliveries to customers for the third straight year in 2014 — but the European aircraft manufacturer edged its US rival in terms of future orders. Airbus reported it delivered 629 planes, shy of Boeing's record 723 deliveries. But Airbus racked up 1,456 net new orders, just ahead of Boeing's 1,432.
Dubai International Airport became the world’s busiest airport for international passengers. Some 70.5 million passengers passed through the airport last year, up 6 percent from last year. The growth put Dubai ahead of London Heathrow for the first time on a full-year basis over Heathrow’s 68.1 million international passengers in 2014.
United Airlines, which is considering outsourcing up to 2,000 airport jobs, now says that after talking with union leaders it will bring back other jobs that had been turned over to contractors. In a letter to employees Wednesday, Senior Vice President of Airport Operations Jon Roitman said United will complete "insourcing" work at nine large airports early this summer. The airports at which United is considering outsourcing jobs of employees including baggage handlers and customer-service agents:
- Anchorage, Alaska
- Atlanta
- Billings, Montana
- Boise, Idaho
- Fort Myers, Florida
- Greensboro, North Carolina
- Hartford, Connecticut
- Indianapolis
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Kansas City
- McAllen, Texas
- Miami; Nashville
- Norfolk, Virginia
- Oklahoma City
- Omaha, Nebraska
- Ontario, California
- Providence, Rhode Island
- Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina
- Reno, Nevada
- Richmond, Virginia
- San Antonio, Texas
- Sacramento, California
- San Jose, California
- Spokane, Washington
- St. Louis
- Tulsa, Oklahoma
- West Palm Beach, Florida.
Frontier Airlines will outsource 1,300 reservations and airport operations jobs in Denver and Milwaukee. In Denver, its main hub, 1,160 jobs will be terminated, The carrier said that its workers will be given preferential interview and hiring opportunities with Swissport USA and Sitel, which will take over the work.
The FAA issued a warning to commercial airlines concerning the fire hazard posed when electronic cigarettes are put in checked luggage on planes. The International Civil Aviation Organization issued a similar recommendation in December. The FAA warning cited an incident in August at Boston's Logan Airport where an e-cigarette in luggage in the cargo hold of a plane caused a fire that spurred an airplane evacuation on the tarmac.
New Deals
Swissport International announced the expansion of its award-winning global airport lounge portfolio. Among the new openings includes the first Aspire Lounge to open in Africa at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.
Worldwide Flight Services has signed a co-operative agreement with ATA Italia to market jointly their respective cargo, ramp and passenger ground handling services in Italy.
Swiss WorldCargo, the airfreight division of Swiss International Air Lines Ltd., and its partner ground-handling companies Cargologic AG and SATS have concluded a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at further enhancing their cargo handling and information services.The MoU outlines the basis for the partners’ future collaborations and alignments in areas such as quality, e-initiatives, temperature-controlled transport management and specialized handling solutions.
Menzies Aviation announced a number of new deals:
- Signed a new three-year passenger and ramp services contract with Qantas Airways covering Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown.
- Extended existing business between subsidiary Skystar Airport Services and Jetstar Airways in Christchurch, Dunedin, Perth, Hamilton Island and Proserpine for a further three years.
- Won a three-year contract to handle American Airlines flights at Heathrow Terminal 3, the carrier’s biggest single hub outside the US. Under the agreement, which will cover 6,500 turns annually, the ground service provider began pushback and towing services this month with ramp-handling commencing in May.
- Reached a new agreement with Icelandair also at Heathrow that extended services by five years.
- Renewed a partnership with Norwegian Airshuttle in Gothenburg and also won a seven-year deal with the airline to provide ramp services in Oslo and Copenhagen. Menzies already provides services for the airline at Alicante, Amsterdam, Budapest, Los Angeles, Murcia, Nice and Orlando. All totaled, Menzies will handle more than 55,000 Norwegian turns annually, which equates to 46 percent of the airline’s traffic in Scandinavia
- Following the success of its award-winning Shongololo Lounge at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport, Menzies opened another lounge at the airport that will be open to any passenger. The ground service provider was granted 10 operating licenses’ by the Airports Company of South Africa in 2008.
Dnata won a ground-handling contract to handle all of American Airlines’ flights at Zurich International airport. Beforehand, dnata serviced US Airways and with the merger and deal, dnata will handle more than 500 flights a year for the airlines. The ground services provider will support the airlines with ramp operations, de-icing, arrival services, and its newly launched integrated clean and search service.
Çelebi Ground Handling has opened two business lounges for premium airline cardholders and VIP travelers at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport, including a refurbished Çelebi Platinum Lounge. Last year, Çelebi signed a five-year lease agreement with Budapest Airport to provide lounge and ground handling services at the airport’s GA terminal
Clariant acquired deicing specialist Aerochem AB, a privately-owned company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Since 2008, Aerochem has been Clariant’s exclusive partner for selling aircraft deicing fluids to customers in the Nordic market.
Tronair Inc. and WASP Inc. announced the sale of WASP’s commercial towbar and tailstand product line to Tronair Inc. The commercial towbar and tailstand product line supports all major commercial aircraft fleet types from single aisle aircraft, such as Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 family, through a range of widebody aircraft including Airbus A330 and Boeing 767, 777 and 787.
Textron acquired Douglas Equipment from Curtiss-Wright Corporation. Going forward, Douglas Equipment will operate as part of Textron Specialized Vehicles GSE business, which also includes TUG Technologies Corp. Douglas will continue to operate from its facilities in Cheltenham and Poyle, UK.
Xcēd Aviation Services closed a major GSE lease contract with a leading global ground services provider, and a major domestic airline out of Dulles International Airport. The transaction includes more than 600 pieces of new and used GSE. The transaction also included Xcēd providing used GSE to the ground handler on an interim basis to provide a seamless integration of service under the new contract while the new equipment was being delivered over a two-month period.
BETA Fueling Systems announced it has been chosen by ASIG to supply an undisclosed number of BETA HT800 hydrant dispenser trucks for their operations at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and O’Hare International Airport.
DatcoMedia signed two new five-year contracts with JetBlue and Virgin Australia for all their GSE under-wing support to provide its maintenance software fleet-wide. DatcoMedia also signed a deal with NAPA and Delta to provide the EBis GSE Express One Click Parts System so all parts ordered for Delta's GSE Department will be order thru EBis GSE Express and supplied by NAPA.
Vestergaard Company’s Thailand, operation delivered a new VTS unit to Bangkok Airways. For Vestergaard, the sale was the first of a locally produced VTS to the Thai market.
The National Air Transportation Association and the Independent Fixed Base Operators Association announced a strategic long-term relationship in their efforts to better serve general aviation businesses. This relationship will provide expanded benefits to general aviation businesses of all sizes and will provide a stronger voice for industry before federal and state legislators and regulators.
PEOPLE
The Executive Aviation FBO in Nice, part of Swissport Executive Aviation and a joint venture of Swissport International and Universal Weather and Aviation Inc. announced the appointment of Rochdi Touri as new FBO Director Swissport Executive Aviation. Touri brings more than 20 years of experience working in the business aviation sector in the Middle East to the position. Prior to joining Swissport Executive Aviation, he held various senior management positions in the corporate and private aviation sector in Doha and Bahrain, and with Jet Aviation in Dubai. In related news, Rafael Fromentin, Deputy FBO Director, will closely work with Rochdi. Fromentin, who joined Swissport Executive Aviation Nice in 2006 as customer service agent, was promoted to deputy station manager Nice in 2012 and successfully led the business ad interim last summer season.
In other news, Swissport International named Dirk Schmitt its CEO Cargo Services for Germany and Austria. He will be responsible for Swissport Cargo Services Germany, an operating unit of the ground service provider that employs approximately 400 staff and runs cargo operations at nine airports as well as several subcontracted European stations. Schmitt joins Swissport from Luxair CARGO and has spent 10 years in the aviation and air cargo industry and held various senior management positions in Europe, including a senior management position at Fraport in Frankfurt.
Menzies Aviation appointed Neil Thomas its finance director. Thomas joins Menzies from Ricardo Plc where he was finance director for its largest division, He has additional international and commercial experience having held finance vice president roles at SPX Corporation and Federal-Mogul Inc.
Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates, has appointed Henrik Ambak to the position of senior vice president, cargo operations worldwide. Ambak joins Emirates SkyCargo after having spent the past 27 years in various roles in the air cargo industry, having worked for companies such as Novia, CSLux and Cargolux Airlines. In his new role, Henrik will be responsible for the management of all Emirates SkyCargo’s operations at its hub in Dubai, comprising the Cargo Mega Terminal at Dubai International Airport and Emirates SkyCentral at Dubai World Central, as well as the operations at the more than 140 outstations across the world.
