April 2015 News

April 23, 2015

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

GAT Airline Ground Support, based in Mobile, Ala., was named Delta Air Lines’ Woman-owned Business of the Year as part of the airline’s annual Supplier Diversity Star Awards. Beginning as the first FBO in Mobile, GAT offers a broad portfolio of ramp services at locations throughout the United States.

American Aero FTW, an FBO at Meacham International Airport in Fort Worth, Texas, became the first FBO in the Western Hemisphere to be issued an International Standard for Business Aircraft Handling (IS- BAH) certificate, a rigorous new safety and ground handling accreditation from the International Business Aviation Council. IS-BAH is a global, voluntary code of best practices for the FBO and business aviation handling agent communities.

Swissport International Ltd., the world’s leading provider of ground and cargo handling services to the aviation industry, reports total revenue and other operating income of CHF 2.9 billion for the year 2014, an increase of 38 percent. The biggest impact on Swissport´s 2014 results was the successful integration of Servisair after the closing of the acquisition on 23 December 2013. As a result, Swissport strengthened its overall market share, became the largest ground service provider in the UK and Ireland with operations at more than 30 airports, and further increased its footprint in LATAM by being present in 10 countries in the region. In other news, Swissport Tanzania posted a net profit gain of 78 percent. Swissport is the biggest ground service provider in the country. The handler attributed the robust performance to increased traffic, use of wide body aircraft by airlines and more important - enhanced operational efficiency and strict cost control.

John Menzies said profits in the year ahead will be hit by the costs of dealing with the closure of terminals at Heathrow, as the airport services and newspaper distribution group reported a slump in annual pre-tax profits linked to “operational difficulties” at the UK’s largest airport. The Menzies Aviation division reported a 45 percent slump in operating profits despite a 4 percent increase in revenues after the firm won more contracts.

The Federal Aviation Administration proposed a $105,500 civil penalty against Servisair LLC of Las Vegas for allegedly violating drug and alcohol testing regulations. The FAA alleges the ground service provider failed to administer drug and alcohol tests to the minimum required percentage of employees in 2013. The FAA further alleges the company failed to add five employees to its random testing pool for weeks or months after they completed their ground coordinator training. Additionally, the FAA alleges that Servisair failed to distribute its drug-use policy, and failed to display and distribute educational material and an employee assistance hotline number following a move to a new terminal.

The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division is investigating a complaint against Prospect Airport Services. In their complaint, workers cited health and safety risks that included exposure to potential falls, blood-borne pathogens, electrical hazards, lack of protective equipment and unsafe transportation conditions.

ProFlo Industries LLC has joined the aircraft refueling industry as an original equipment manufacturer. Started in 2014 by Terry N. Bosserman, ProFlo Industries specializes in the manufacturing and refurbishment of aircraft refueling equipment as well as other fuel storage and dispensing equipment. ProFlo Industries offers products including Jet and Avgas refuelers, hydrant dispensers, towable hydrant carts, fueling skids, fueling ladders and refueler and hydrant modules for in-country integration. The company recently purchased a new facility in Alvada, Ohio. For more information about ProFlo Industries, please visit www.profloind.com or email [email protected].

For the second time in the past three years, the Air Transport News Awards recognized SITA, as IT Company of the Year. The 2015 award was based on SITA’s influential leadership and innovation, new solutions and achievements, social responsibility, financial performance and contribution to the air transport community.

NEW DEALS

Dnata has strengthened its commitment to the Philippines with the opening of a new lounge at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International airport and a service center in Clark. The ground service provider first entered the Philippines in 1998, with a team of 80 providing ground handling services to one cargo airline. Since that time, the company has continued to grow and now employs more than 300 people between its airport operations and service center.

ADELTE recently secured two contracts for more than 60 PCAs, with 42 of the company’s Zephir units go to Incheon International Airport and 20 to Palma de Mallorca Airport.

Show organizers have added a third hall for the inter airport Europe 2015, Oct. 6-9 at the Munich Trade Fair Centre. “More than half a year ahead of the show the available stand space in halls B5 and B6 had already been booked or reserved, while the demand for stand space continues to be very strong. With the directly neighboring hall B4 we are now able to offer additional stand space in the indoor area of the exhibition,” explains Nicola Hamann, managing director of Mack Brooks Exhibitions. Currently some 460 exhibitors from 37 countries cover a net exhibition space of more than 25,000 square meters indoors and outdoors.

FCX Systems, Inc., won the contract to manufacture 110 custom GPUs that will be part of the largest foreign arms sale in U.S. history. FCX is headquartered in Morgantown, W.Va. The GPUs, scheduled for delivery through 2018, provide both 400Hz and 28 VDC ground power to fighter aircraft, which will be operated by a Middle Eastern ally.

Archer Daniels Midland Company and Clariant announced the introduction of ADM Evolution Chemical’s line of biobased propylene glycol into Clariant’s Safewing® and OctafloTM brands of aircraft de-icing fluids in North America. ADM’s propylene glycol meets existing industry standards and can be used interchangeably with petroleum-derived propylene glycol. Safewing and Octaflo products made with ADM’s biobased propylene glycol fulfill all performance expectations and reduce carbon footprint.  

DatcoMedia has signed Virgin Australia and JetBlue for all their GSE software maintenance needs, and has also just added ABR a Australian-based GSE support company who will be using EBis GSE Express for all of dnata's GSE equipment for their maintenance needs.

United Airlines' pilots on the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 fleets will stop starting the auxiliary power unit (APU) after arrival to save money. The shift, which is coming in stages, is a return to an operating procedure used by United in the mid-2000s, before its merger with Continental Airlines. As part of the change, most narrow-bodies will arrive at the gate with the No. 1 engine continuing to run until the aircraft is attached to ground power.

PEOPLE

Swissport International Ltd., promoted Nils Pries Knudsen to executive vice president Global Cargo Services. Knudsen joined Swissport in January 2009 and has since been instrumental in taking the Cargo Division forward to become a global leader. With 4.1 million tonnes of air cargo being handled per year, the cargo division is the ground service provider’s second largest service besides ground handling. Knudsen will also become a member of Swissport´s Group Executive Management.

Landmark Aviation has named Issac Lee, its 2014 General Manager of the Year. This is the second consecutive year that Isaac has received this distinction. In 2014, Isaac, the company’s general manager at Miami International Airport, not only increased the success of his FBO location, but also extended his service to the residents of Miami. Isaac was recently appointed to the Miami Dade College School of Aviation’s advisory committee. He has also continued to be an active member of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Florida Aviation Business Association, and a strong supporter of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of South Florida.

FlightSafety International appointed Kyle Davis as its executive director of marketing for the company’s business and commercial aviation training activities. His responsibilities include working with FlightSafety’s team of product directors to develop new programs, services and solutions that meet the current and future needs of operators of business and commercial aircraft. He also contributes to FlightSafety’s market analysis, forecasting, and strategic planning efforts. He has held a number of positions of increasing responsibility since originally joining FlightSafety in 1997. He left the company in 2006 to join EE International in Nairobi, Kenya as regional director for East Africa and then Global Connections as international director. Upon his return to the United States in 2011, Kyle joined LL Johns & Associates as an aviation insurance account executive. He returned to FlightSafety in 2012 as a product director.